


Bewitched

by idiotwithacatpen



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crow!Qrow, I'm using aus to cope, Multi, Witch AU, anyway qrow is a witch, at all, because I'm not original, but oh well, i still don't know how to tag, i'll add tags as i go, rwby canon isn't even a thing anymore, the title is really sad, tw for ch12, witch is gender neutral
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 34,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22636735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idiotwithacatpen/pseuds/idiotwithacatpen
Summary: In a world where Huntsmen fight witches along with the Grimm, Clover Ebi's first mission turns into a disaster when he and the Ace Ops are sent to capture the runaway Team STRQ. He didn't expect to live after Raven and her (strangely attractive) brother Qrow Branwen wiped the floor with his entire team, so when they wake up on the border of the forest completely unharmed, he's allowed to be curious as to why.Seventeen years later, Team STRQ is no longer together. Summer is dead, Taiyang returned to Patch, Raven rejoined the Branwen Coven, and Qrow has disappeared. The Ace Ops investigate a sighting of the Branwen twins close to the time of the Vytal Festival, unaware that they're about to be dragged into a much bigger battle that will change Remnant forever.
Relationships: Ace Ops & Clover Ebi, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi, Team JNPR & Team RWBY
Comments: 201
Kudos: 224





	1. Mondays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the ace ops love waffles

Clover wakes up with a sinking feeling in his gut and knows immediately that today is Monday. He half-slides, half-falls out of bed and stumbles over to the closet to put his uniform on.

Halfway across the room, he remembers that he graduated two weeks ago and is instantly relieved. Even if the trauma from Monday never leaves him, he’s glad to have the extra sleep. Gods know he needs it. Clover lays back down and closes his eyes, ready to go back to sleep.

A loud bang breaks the silence, forcing Clover to sit up and look around for the source of the noise. Seconds later, something black hits his window.

_Harriet_ , Clover mentally groans. What could she possibly want this early-

The mission.

Suddenly alert, Clover grabs the folded uniform he laid out yesterday and starts changing out of his pajamas as he gropes blindly for his Scroll. It starts ringing the second he picks it up.

The only thought going through Clover’s head is that he’s supposed to be lucky as he picks up the phone. “I know, I know-”

“You can’t stop my lecture just by saying you know! We were going to have breakfast together!” Harriet says. As she launches into a long speech about how everyone’s been waiting for him to get out of the house, Clover finishes getting dressed. Doing his best to drown out Harriet’s voice, he pins his lucky charm- a Clover pin that his dad gave him- to his shirt and runs downstairs.

Clover opens the front door and his team comes spilling in almost immediately. Normally, there would only be three other people, but General Ironwood said they would “work well together.” So instead of Team CHRY, he and Harriet joined the Ace Ops. He’s not sure how he really feels about them yet- both teams lost at least one team member, and another of Team CHRY ran away. Since they lost their leader, Clover now leads the Ace Ops.

“You promised us breakfast,” Marrow explains as he slips into the kitchen, snatching a banana from Clover’s fruit bowl. “Do you have waffles?”

Sighing, Clover checks his Scroll. They still have thirty minutes before he planned to leave, so he pulls out his frozen waffles and sticks them in the toaster. 

The other Ace Ops wait in anticipation for the waffles to be done. Clover senses what Harriet’s about to do and leaves the kitchen. She zips by him and snatches all four waffles from the toaster, not bothering to put in the rest.

Vine stands up almost immediately and uses his semblance to grab one of the waffles from her plate. Once Marrow joins in, it’s absolute chaos as he stops them in their tracks. Clover makes eye contact with Elm. They both roll their eyes as Clover puts the next batch of waffles in the toaster.

Thirty minutes later, when Elm and Clover have gotten the Ace Ops to see sense, they leave Clover’s house to see General Ironwood. It’s not a long walk, considering that his office is in Atlas just like Clover’s apartment. The entire way there, Clover tries to ignore Marrow and Harriet bickering over who should have gotten the last waffle. Thankfully, he’s had a lot of practice.

The Ace Ops reach Ironwood’s office only to be stopped by a dark-haired officer before they reach the door. She holds out a folder to them. “General Ironwood is at a last-minute meeting. He requested that I give this to you.”

Even if she doesn’t specifically say it, Clover knows that Ironwood’s been called away by Ozpin to discuss the ever-growing threat of the Grimm and witches that live on their borders. It’s common knowledge that Lionheart and Theodore aren’t the best to rule their kingdoms, so Ironwood is often absent.

Harriet takes the folder for him and flips it open as the officer stalks off. Her eyes grow round immediately as she holds the folder up to the Ace Ops. “We’re supposed to hunt down the Branwen Coven!”

“That’s not what it says,” Vine sighs. He tugs the folder from her grasp and holds it out to Marrow and Elm. “We’re hunting down Team STRQ.”

Everyone goes still. They’re all familiar with Team STRQ- everyone in Remnant probably is. They were famous for having two members of the Branwen Coven that had supposedly repented. On the day they graduated from Beacon- the same day the Ace Ops graduated- the entire team left the kingdoms to return to the forest as witches. Even the two humans were corrupted and willingly went with them.

Ozpin refused to reveal more information on them, but in the file the Vine holds up are their profiles. There’s relatively little information, as it seems that Ozpin still won’t give Ironwood everything on Team STRQ.

Vine hands the folder to Clover. “Team STRQ- Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen, and Qrow Branwen,” Clover reads to them. “We’re supposed to hunt them down and arrest them all. Ironwood doesn’t want them to have the chance to join the Branwen Coven in Mistral.”

“That doesn’t seem much harder than the usual missions we went on in our last year,” Harriet shrugs.

“These are trained Huntsmen,” Clover reminds her. “And they have magic on their side.”

“Five of us against two witches and two Huntsmen?” Elm laughs. “They don’t have a chance.”

“I wouldn’t underestimate them if I were you,” Vine says. “The Branwen Coven is notorious for having powerful witches.”

Clover keeps going through the file while his team discusses Team STRQ. The only thing they have besides Team STRQ’s names are pictures of the humans, blurry photos of the witches and short weapon descriptions. Wonderful.

As he stares down at the pictures, the red eyes of the Branwen twins seem to glow. He watches in awe as the people in the photos slowly start moving. 

Harriet nudges him and Clover blinks. When he looks back down at the photos, they’re as still as ever. “Are we going to the hangar or what?”

“We should probably hurry,” Clover responds, snapping out of his stupor. “They were last seen close to the border of Mantle.”

The Ace Ops follow him to the airship, passing the folder to each other as they walk. Within ten minutes, they’re heading down to Mantle.

The air is tense despite Elm’s attempts to lighten the mood. Marrow fidgets with his weapon the entire way down to the forest while Vine sits in absolute silence. Harriet occasionally shoots Clover a look, but mostly keeps her eyes on the window.

After what seems like an eternity, the airship doors hiss open. Clover steps out first and shivers from the cold. Some days, he really wishes that his uniform had sleeves, and today is one of those days.

Harriet voices what they’re all thinking. “I’ve never been this far from the kingdom before.”

“The most dangerous Grimm are supposed to live here,” Marrow adds, his tail tucked in close to himself. “Did everyone bring extra dust?”

The Ace Ops nod and step forward, looking out at the forest. There’s something eerie about the entire forest, Clover decides. “Ready?” He calls to his team.

“Somehow I don’t think it would matter if I said no,” Marrow mutters.

Clover grins, but doesn’t reply. Making sure his team is behind him, he takes the first step into the forest.


	2. The Branwen Twins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is just a really long fight scene and clover notices how hot qrow is all of one (1) time
> 
> tldr is in the notes

Three hours into the forest, the Ace Ops start to get bored. Besides the occasional Grimm that they’d dispatched, nothing exciting had happened.

“This is a mission for second years,” Harriet groans as she trudges on.

Clover does his best to ignore her. His eyes flick from shadow to shadow as he watches for intruders. The other Ace Ops might not be alert anymore, but he definitely is.

Marrow pokes his shoulder, breaking his concentration. “Can we stop for lunch?”

“It’s been three hours,” Elm chides. “Let’s go for at least another thirty minutes before we take a break.”

Before Clover can even nod, he hears the distinctive sound of a blade being drawn. Instantly alert, he puts his hand on his weapon.

As the Ace Ops prepare to fight, a wave of exhaustion rolls over them. It’s brief and disappears as quickly as it comes, but when it ends, Clover finds that he can barely move his legs.

Red eyes appear in the shadows, followed by a white and red mask. _Apathies?_ Clover wonders right before he realizes that the thing moving toward them isn’t a Grimm at all.

“What are you doing here?” The person hisses, her voice seeming to echo far more than it should. She glares at them from behind the mask, a hand on the round sheath on her hip. Clover recognizes the sheath immediately.

Even though the effort is almost too much for him to bear, Clover steps forward and says in his most official voice, “Raven Branwen, you’re under arrest by the order of General Ironwood.”

Raven only laughs as she takes off her mask eerily reminiscent of a Grimm. The witch smirks, her eyes glowing in the darkness. “And who’s supposed to arrest me? You? Ironwood clearly isn’t very invested in this mission at all, is he?”

“I’ll have you know that we’re the best Huntsmen and Huntresses in Atlas,” Harriet replies, but it only makes Raven more amused. 

“We don’t necessarily need to fight,” Vine says, his voice as calm as ever. “You decide whether you want to come quietly or fight. But either way, you’re coming back to Atlas.”

The witch raises an eyebrow and cocks her head as if she’s deep in thought. Then her eyes flash hungrily, and she says, “Make me.”

Clover barely notices that the spell hindering their movement is gone as he shoots Kingfisher’s hook at her, aiming for her sword. She dodges it as Marrow’s weapon, Fetch, embeds itself in the tree where her head once was. 

Harriet shoots by them to try to kick the witch in the face, but Raven holds up her sword and knocks her away just as Vine uses his semblance to try to grab her from where he stands across the clearing. Harriet falls into the huge yellow hands instead and struggles to free herself, yelling a few choice curse words at Vine.

Raven leaps clear of both of them and notices Kingfisher’s hook still shooting into the gloom. She reaches up to grab it, throwing it at Marrow instead. The Faunus dives out of the way and runs for his weapon as Clover yanks the hook back in.

“We need a plan,” Harriet barks as she skids to a stop beside him. “How about you keep her busy and I run up and kick her in the face?”

“Brilliant plan, Harriet,” Clover sighs, but he still runs up to help Elm fight Raven. He blocks a few of the witch’s strikes before Timber hits him in the stomach, sending him to the ground. Elm glances at him, and that’s all it takes for Raven to kick her away.

From the ground, Clover flicks his pin and then stands up, readying Kingfisher as Harriet lands her kick on Raven’s blade instead of her face, the red sword shattering into pieces. The Ace Ops arrive at his side. “What’s the actual plan, Clover?” Elm asks.

“I don’t have much of a plan,” he admits. Clover turns to Marrow and Vine and whispers a quick idea. They grin and nod, stepping forward to face Raven as she pulls a blue blade out of her sheath. Harriet and Elm stay back, unwilling to interrupt whatever plan Clover made up. 

Vine’s yellow arm shoots at Raven, who immediately jumps over it, a smug expression on her face. Clover can’t help but mirror her expression. She doesn’t know what’s about to happen.

Marrow jumps forward and yells, “Stay!”

Raven freezes, and as she falls, Vine’s second arm grabs her and slams her into the ground as Kingfisher’s hook knocks her sword from her grasp. Vine yells to Elm, who raises Timber and swings it down on the witch as his hand pulls away.

The witch’s impact with the ground creates a small crater as she lays there, stunned. Marrow doesn’t release his Semblance until Harriet wraps the cuffs around her wrists.

“One down-” Elm begins. She doesn’t get to finish her sentence as something sweeps her off her feet. From the shadows of the clearing, something black knocks them all to the ground and slices through Raven’s bonds.

Clover’s seen this happen once before. When team CHRY was in their third year, they went on a practice mission to hunt down a relatively weak witch. Their information turned out to be wrong, a fact that they realized when she turned to shadow and nearly killed them all. He’s not at all surprised when the swirling darkness turns into a man in the center of the clearing. 

Only when the man turns to face him is Clover surprised. He expected the red eyes and black hair, but he didn’t expect just how _attractive_ Qrow Branwen would be.

As his teammate of four years, Harriet knows what he’s thinking. “Save the gay for later,” she whispers, nudging him. “We have bigger problems.”

“Shut up, Harriet,” Clover growls back. He raises Kingfisher, the rest of the Ace Ops waiting for his signal as they spread out in the clearing.

Qrow turns to Raven and nods, an unspoken plan passing between them. They smile grimly at each other and stand back to back, each holding their sword at the ready. 

Clover nods ever-so-slightly. He and Harriet take off towards the pair, the rest of the Ace Ops following a millisecond later. 

Raven blocks his first strike as Harriet kicks at her legs. She kicks Harriet back instead, but leaves herself vulnerable as Clover punches her in the face. The witch staggers, but remains on her feet.

Meanwhile, Vine, Marrow and Elm are knocking Qrow around rather easily. Clover’s confident that they’re going to win until Elm decides that Vine and Marrow are fine on their own and runs over to help them out.

The first slam of Timber sends the witch across the clearing, but the second hits Harriet instead, knocking her against a nearby tree. Harriet pants as she struggles to her feet. “Elm!” She cries, her gaze accusing.

“Sorry!” Elm responds, barely dodging Raven’s slashing blade. As Clover runs over, Raven lands several hits, weaving around the slow attacks of Timber.

Something small and black darts in front of him. Qrow is suddenly slashing at him, surprisingly quickly for someone with such a bulky sword. Clover deflects a few strikes before the two witches back up and stand together again.

“Stop going easy on them, Qrow,” Raven spits, her sword now a vibrant green. “Let’s finish this.”

Qrow nods in response. Clover isn’t sure what’s about to happen until the pair’s eyes start glowing. _They’re using their magic…_

Someone throws a crystal of Ice Dust at them, but Raven catches it and throws it back. Harriet quickly rolls away- straight into the path of a beam of ice that Qrow shoots straight out of his hand. She falls to the ground, encased in a solid block of ice.

Clover looks around at the weapons of the other Ace Ops, trying to figure out if any of them can free Harriet. When he can’t think of any way to directly free her, he flicks his clover pin again and shoots her an apologetic look. It’ll have to do.

The Branwen twins move together, flying at the remaining Ace Ops. Raven swings at Vine and Marrow, but they’re able to dodge or deflect her attacks. 

However, Elm and Clover don’t have such an easy time. While Elm doesn’t necessarily hit him with Timber again, they only seem to be attacking when the other is knocked back by Qrow. By the time they establish an unsteady rhythm, Qrow is barely expending any effort to hold them back.

Finally, Elm attacks at just the right moment for Clover to have an opening. He seizes his opportunity immediately and rips the sword out of Qrow’s grasp with Kingfisher. A moment later, while Qrow is still surprised, Elm knocks him across the clearing.

Qrow tumbles through the air and falls to the ground by his sword, which he yanks out of the dirt. Clover doesn’t see what causes the transformation, but in an instant, the witch is holding a scythe instead of a sword.

Luckily, before Qrow can use it, Raven cries out and falls to the ground, her aura shattering. Her brother looks up with a gasp and darts over to her instead, standing next to her and barely holding off Vine and Marrow. “Raven! Get out of here!”

Clover blinks. By the time his eyes are open again, he can’t see Raven. He doesn’t have time to puzzle over her disappearance as Qrow’s eyes flare.

Everything the other Ace Ops are doing suddenly goes wrong. Marrow hits Elm with Fetch as the two rockets she launches backfire and knock Marrow and Vine into trees, exploding a second later. Clover remains unharmed, but he stands still to gape as all three of his teammates’ auras break.

Qrow notices him still standing and his eyes widen for a fraction of a second before he smirks. Not bothering to fly again, he leaps for Clover with his scythe outstretched.

Clover jumps over the first slash of the blade only for something else to hit him into the ground. Raven reappears over him for a brief second before she’s gone again, vanishing somewhere in the darkness. Clover glances around, sees the unconscious bodies of his teammates and knows he’s screwed. As if the world needs to give him further confirmation, greenish ripples appear all over his body.

“You did put up a good fight,” Qrow says as he stalks over. “But I’m not dealing with Jimmy _again_.”

Clover barely has the time to register that he’s talking about General Ironwood before Qrow kicks him in the head and everything goes black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tl;dr: raven and qrow kick the ace ops' asses (bc magic you know)


	3. New Information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more mostly unimportant things. but now we're 17 years in the future and in the events of volume 3

Clover has spent years chasing after Qrow Branwen, and not in the way he would prefer. Ever since their humiliating defeat, the Ace Ops trained and trained and trained until they weren’t just the best Huntsmen and Huntresses in Atlas- they can now call themselves the best Huntsman _team_. 

Even to this day, Clover wonders how they ever made it out alive. When he lost, he’d expected to never wake up again. Instead, they found themselves back at the border, their auras completely recharged. It’s practically unheard of when the only Huntsmen that ever return from their witch hunts are the victorious ones.

Shaking his head, Clover leans back and stares at the opposite side of the airship where Harriet and Marrow are playing cards. There’s no point in puzzling over the Branwens’ motives. And if he really wants to know so badly, he can ask them today if they manage to catch Team STRQ.

Well, not necessarily Team STRQ. Summer Rose was reported dead over a decade ago, while Taiyang Xiao Long was pardoned and was allowed to return to Patch with two young children. If Clover remembers their ages correctly, Yang is old enough to be in her first year at Beacon. Raven was seen multiple times with the Branwen Coven, but sightings of Qrow are few and far between.

The split-up should have made it easier to hunt them down, but the members of Team STRQ are more elusive on their own. This was the first time they’d had reports of two witches suspected to be the Branwen twins in the same place. And so close to the time of the Vytal festival, no less. But when the Ace Ops had investigated, they’d found nothing.

Right before the Ace Ops landed in Atlas after searching the forests around Mantle, General Ironwood had told them to go to Vale with the rest of the fleet. So they turned around and waited to land in Vale, hours away.

“Are we there yet?” Harriet whines, loud enough to snap Clover out of his thoughts. She leans forward, groaning.

Marrow swats her away. “Stay away from my cards. And no, we’re not there yet.”

Clover glances out the window. “We’re close, though. We should land in a few minutes.”

The Ace Ops all nod, some of them turning to the window. Elm stares at the forest surrounding Vale for a few seconds before turning back to her Scroll to watch old Vytal Festival replays.

He might be imagining it, but for a second Clover thinks he sees something black flash by the window. Clover considers the possibility that it’s an actual threat, but he decides that it’s just a small Nevermore. Turning back to watch Harriet and Marrow, Clover tries to reassure himself that he’s just being jumpy.

“Is that Winter Schnee’s ship?” Elm asks as she looks at the window again.

Clover looks up and recognizes the distinct shape of Winter’s personal airship. Although she was younger than them, she had just as much skill. Unfortunately, that meant that she could be just a _little_ bit high-and-mighty. Harriet couldn’t stand her.

“Oh, delightful,” Harriet hissed, every syllable dripping with equal parts dread and sarcasm. “The Ice Queen herself.”

_Ice Queen._ The nickname that Qrow Branwen had given Winter years before. She mentioned it in conversation once and the rest was history. Clover’s sure that if Winter could change one small event, she would go back in time to ensure she never mentioned the nickname to anyone. 

They have to land slightly farther away than they planned because Winter’s ship is blocking them, something that Harriet adds to her list of things to hate Winter for. 

By the time they make it to the courtyard, a large crowd of students has gathered around something. As the Ace Ops come to a stop behind them, something white appears in the air.

“Is that a glyph?” Marrow asks.

Sure enough, Specialist Winter Schnee herself appears for a brief second. She points her sword at something beneath her and uses the glyph to propel herself at it. Clover hears the sound of her hitting another sword.

Although he doesn’t actually see them, he catches a glimpse of her enemy’s weapon as it slashes downward. Clover pauses. Is that Qrow’s sword?

A few more seconds of watching reveals the witch standing in front of Winter. The Ace Ops turn to each other, their eyes wide. 

“What’s he doing here?” Harriet mutters to them. “Don’t they know who he is?”

“It’s been seventeen years, Harriet,” Vine replies. “I doubt that Team STRQ has made the news since fifteen years ago. As long as he doesn’t use his magic, he looks like a human Huntsman.”

“Are we still allowed to arrest him?” Harriet asks.

Clover glances at Qrow and frowns. “I think we are, but we can’t exactly just walk up to him to try. That’ll probably cause a bigger commotion than whatever Winter did.”

“Knowing her, she probably just straight-up attacked him,” Marrow sighs. “So do we wait for after the fight and ‘accidentally’ run into him after everyone leaves?”

“Yes, Marrow.” Harriet rolls her eyes. “As if he’s not just going to blast all of us if no one is around.”

“We can’t exactly just let him go, though,” Elm says thoughtfully, ducking as Winter and Qrow move away from the crowd they were battling in to ruin more buildings. “Maybe if only one of us goes to him, he won’t feel threatened enough to fight.”

Harriet perks up immediately. “I volunteer Clover,” she nearly screams. The rest of the Ace Ops give her questioning looks while Clover glares at her.

“You _are_ lucky,” Vine says. “And you’re our leader anyway. Not to mention that the rest of us have thrown him into the ground at one point.”

Clover looks around at the faces of the Ace Ops and knows that it’s not really up to debate. Especially when Harriet’s smirking at him like it’s a challenge. “Fine, fine. After she finishes-” He glances back and realizes that Winter is literally about to murder Qrow.

Winter crouches by her glyph, rage clear on her face. Qrow leans forward and beckons her closer in a gesture that should most definitely not get Clover’s heart racing that fast. With Winter, on the other hand, it only makes her even angrier. She launches herself off the glyph with a cry, her sword pointed at Qrow’s throat.

“Schnee!”

The Ace Ops all turn to see General Ironwood striding toward them, his newest robot next to him. They immediately look back at each other once they notice that Ironwood doesn’t seem to care about their presence.

“He doesn’t seem to care that he’s here,” Marrow whispers.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Harriet shoots back. “I guess Clover will get his chance another day-”

“UNCLE QROWWWW!” A high-pitched scream nearly destroys Clover’s eardrums as he whirls to find a vaguely familiar girl dangling off of Qrow’s arm. 

_Ruby Rose?_

“It’s so good to see you! Did you miss me? DID YOU MISS ME?”

Clover finds himself smiling as Qrow simply replies, “Nope,” and ruffles her hair. A moment later, Ruby falls off his arm when Ozpin calls Qrow’s name.

This, of course, prompts the Ace Ops to start whispering again. “And now _Ozpin_ is okay with him being here? Did we fall into some alternate dimension?”

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Elm replies. “Look- Ozpin wants a word with him.”

Before Clover can turn around, all of their scrolls buzz. Clover pulls his out of his pocket and reads the message on it.

GENERAL IRONWOOD: OZPIN’S OFFICE. FIFTEEN MINUTES.

They stand in silence for a while until Harriet asks, “So… does he expect us to just _find_ Ozpin’s office?”

\---

The Ace Ops mill awkwardly around in Ozpin’s office, not exactly sure what to say. Winter paces back and forth, glaring at the ground.

Clover finally leans over to General Ironwood. “Does this have something to do with that important secret you mentioned?”

Ironwood says nothing and only nods, his eyes fixed on the elevator. As they watch, the doors slide open to reveal a smirking Qrow next to Glynda and Ozpin.

Winter steps forward almost immediately. “What were you thinking?” She snarls with enough venom to make Clover flinch. Qrow stares back, looking almost bored.

“If you were one of my men, I would have you shot,” Ironwood growls. His tone is slightly less imposing, but Clover still thinks that he’d prefer to not have to listen to either of them.

“If I was one of your men, I’d shoot myself,” Qrow retorts, unbothered. He pulls out a flask and steps into the office.

Clover raises his eyebrows and turns back to the Ace Ops, who are doing their absolute best not to laugh. “Damn,” Harriet hisses. “He really said that.”

After they all calm down, they watch Qrow sass Winter and Ironwood for a few minutes, thoroughly enjoying the show. When Winter’s dismissed, Harriet even claps. 

The second Winter leaves, the conversation shifts. Qrow shouts something about a woman, and a glance at the Ace Ops tells Clover that they’re all just as confused. When Ozpin suggests finding a guardian, Harriet finally snaps.

“What the hell are you even talking about?” Harriet snarls, slamming her hands down so hard on Ozpin’s desk that his cocoa almost spills. “ _Who_ are you talking about?”

Ironwood raises a hand and Harriet reluctantly straightens. “That’s what we’re going to explain to you, as long as you’re willing. I’ve reassured Ozpin that you can be trusted with this information- can you?”

Clover waits for any of the Ace Ops to respond until he realizes that they expect him to talk. He steps forward. “Yes, sir.”

He expects Ironwood or even Ozpin to explain it to them. What he doesn’t expect for the witch to turn to him and ask, “What’s your favorite fairy tale?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have this chapter as an apology because I'm about to bullshit a bland fantasy novel in 2 days for my english class. 
> 
> also if you can't picture the scene in ozpin's office, either you're lying or you're not a True Qrow Fan™


	4. Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the fall of beacon happens and we finally get into interesting stuff. kind of. not really

The Ace Ops sit around the TV, passing around a huge bowl of popcorn as Pyrrha Nikos dodges Penny’s swords. No one speaks, but Marrow occasionally squawks when he spills the popcorn bowl.

As Pyrrha launches her weapon towards Penny, Harriet speaks up. “Is it bad that I kind of want Pyrrha to win?”

Clover doesn’t get the chance to respond when everyone stiffens, seeing the horrified look on Pyrrha’s face as she stumbles back, her eyes focused on nothing. She raises her hands, her gloves glowing black.

One moment, Penny is standing in front of Pyrrha with her swords at the ready. The next, she’s falling to the ground in pieces. The Ace Ops all scramble to their feet, hands reaching for weapons that aren’t at their sides.

“What just happened?” Elm asks. “Did that girl just kill Penny?”

“She couldn’t have meant to,” Marrow says. “How would she know that Penny’s a robot?”

No one responds as they stand in shock. _Why aren’t they stopping the broadcast?_ Clover wonders as he slowly reaches for Kingfisher. The weapon gives him a faint feeling of security as he stares at the screen.

The screen goes red.

“This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust. Your safety. Your _children_. To men who claim to be our guardians. But are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our Academies’ headmasters wield more power than most armies and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here?”

Clover barely notices it as he gestures to the Ace Ops to grab their weapons. If this woman’s words are enough to worry them, the people of Vale must be terrified. And terror brings the Grimm.

“One nation’s attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don’t think the Grimm can tell the difference. And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment and now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither.”

Marrow growls as he grabs Fetch, the Ace Ops already halfway to the door.

“Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its-”

Clover slams the door behind him, cutting off the words of the woman on the TV. He and the Ace Ops run down the corridor, ignoring the surprised shouts of the other people in their rooms.

Harriet appears next to him in a burst of electricity. “Do you think this is the work of that Salem person that Branwen was talking about?”

“I don’t know who else it could be,” Clover replies as they burst through the doors and out into Vale. He studies the streets, but can’t find any Grimm. Just as he’s ready to tell the Ace Ops that they should try to find somewhere to help, a Goliath comes charging around the corner.

Elm moves first and plants herself in front of the Goliath, using her Semblance to stay standing while Marrow sends Fetch spinning through its neck. The huge Grimm dissolves as quickly as it appears, but the Ace Ops don’t stay to watch, running forward to where they can hear more Grimm stampeding towards them.

A pack of Beowolves turns the corner, their speed increasing when they see the Ace Ops. Clover readies Kingfisher, trying to pinpoint the Alpha Beowolf. Before he can find the pack leader, the Grimm are already closing in.

Harriet streaks around the Beowolves so quickly that Clover can barely follow her movements, confusing them enough for Marrow to slice them in half. Vine and Elm work together as he throws the Beowolves into Timber’s path. Clover uses Kingfisher to yank one towards him before he realizes that there’s no good way for him to kill them. 

Clover turns to call for Marrow or Elm, but they’re across the block, trying to stem the flow of Beowolves. He doesn’t think he’s seen so many of them together in his life. The Ace Ops can easily deal with a single pack, but the amount of Beowolves is about to overwhelm them.

Darkness cuts in front of them and materializes as Qrow, who leaps from Grimm to Grimm with seemingly inhuman speed. None of them get a swipe in as he cuts most of them to shreds, leaving a few for the Ace Ops to pick off. The witch lands in front of Clover, not even breathing hard as he puts away his sword. “You seemed like you could use some help,” is the only thing he says.

“Thank you,” Clover replies, giving him a nod. 

Harriet returns first thanks to her Semblance, eyeing Qrow suspiciously as she approaches. She doesn’t relax like she normally would, but stands ready to fight on a moment’s notice. “What are you doing here?”

“You know exactly what I’m doing here,” Qrow says, crossing his arms. 

“Forgive me if it’s hard to believe that a witch would ever fight for humans. Didn’t you even say that Salem’s the mother of all witches or something?” Harriet copies his pose with even more sass. “Just because Ironwood trusts you doesn’t mean we have to.”

“Harriet…” Clover mutters, reaching a hand out to her. “I don’t trust him either, but we don’t have time for this. The longer we delay, the more people die. We have to-”

“Look,” Qrow interrupts, “I get it. You don’t trust me because I’m a witch and my extended family is trying to kill all of us. But I’ve had fifteen-”

Clover registers the way Qrow’s eyes dart up to look at something behind them too late. He spins around to see a Goliath barely five feet away from them, the Ace Ops running frantically behind it from the rest of its herd. Raising Kingfisher, he braces himself for impact and amplifies his Semblance as fast as he can.

Nothing hits him as Qrow thrusts a hand out, an arc of lightning soaring from his fingertips. It connects with the Goliath, and the Grimm twitches once and dissolves. The lightning travels on to the rest of the Goliaths to fry them too. Clover catches a glimpse of Qrow’s glowing eyes before they return to normal.

“- _sixteen opportunities to kill you_ ,” Qrow continues as if he didn’t just destroy an entire herd of Goliaths. “If I wanted you dead, I would have let Raven leave you in the forest seventeen years ago. I’m here to keep the people of Vale safe, just like you.”

Harriet looks like she wants to argue, but Clover gives her a warning glance before he turns to Qrow. “All right, then. Have you seen General Ironwood?”

Qrow shakes his head. “Glynda said she was going to look for him, but I haven’t heard from her.” 

Clover sighs and gestures to the Ace Ops. “We should go find the general.” Glancing back at Qrow, he says, “Thank you, Huntsman Bran-”

“Qrow,” the witch interrupts.

“What?”

“Call me Qrow. Huntsman Branwen is too stuffy.” Before Clover can respond, Qrow vanishes.

The Ace Ops look at each other for a second before starting off down the street. As they walk, Harriet leans over to Clover. “First name basis?”

“Shut up, Harriet,” the entire group says at once despite the puzzled expressions on Marrow, Vine and Elm’s faces. For once, Clover’s glad that they can be clueless sometimes.

They don’t find General Ironwood for what seems like hours as they battle their way through swarm after swarm of Grimm, eventually making their way to the airships and back once everyone has been evacuated. Every muscle in Clover’s body aches by the time they make it back to the city to check for people.

Clover hears the Wyvern landing on top of the tower before he sees it, and the second the Creeps rise from the black puddles it leaves behind, he knows Beacon is a lost cause. He’s never seen a Wyvern, whether in real life or pictures, but he’s heard the legends of their strength. He turns to the Ace Ops. “We’ve done all we can. Maybe we should leave.”

His team nods, too exhausted to reply. Their auras haven’t broken yet, but Harriet looks like she’s about to collapse and Elm seems to be standing only because of her Semblance.

Not too far away, something white gleams in the darkness. Clover squints and recognizes the Schnee glyphs on the side of the tower. He considers it being Winter, but dismisses the thought when he catches a glimpse of white hair too long to be hers. 

Gold flashes at the top of the tower and becomes a wind of light, soaring over their heads. It flickers and dies soon after it passes them. Clover turns back to the tower when he hears a loud scream, a hand reaching for his weapon.

This time, instead of gold, a beam of white slices through the darkness. It completely envelopes the Wyvern as Clover stares in awe. As far as he knows, it can’t just be magic. No witch he’s seen has ever made something like that appear.

The light disappears in a final flash, leaving the Wyvern frozen in the tower. The Ace Ops gape in awe, trying to figure out what could have possibly defeated such a huge Grimm.

As if the universe is trying to answer their questions, Qrow materializes next to them. The surprise from his sudden arrival makes Marrow and Harriet finally collapse while Elm sways dangerously. He doesn’t even greet them, just stares up at the tower with fear lighting his red eyes. “Ruby!”

_Ruby Rose did… that? Or did she die up there?_

Qrow takes off in a shadowy wind. Clover watches him reappear, moving much slower as he carries the limp form of his niece in his arms. The witch mutters words Clover can’t make out to her as he carries her toward the airships, occasionally shooting the Grimm that try to attack him.

Clover turns to the other Ace Ops and nods. They all stumble after Qrow to the airships, where they find their tiny transport still waiting for them. Harriet staggers onto the ship first, opting to simply fall on the floor. Marrow lays down across one row of seats and Elm takes the other, leaving Vine and Clover.

Vine looks at the pilot’s seat and back at Clover. Clover understands what Vine’s trying to ask him and shakes his head. “You can rest.”

Even though he’s ready to collapse like the rest of his team, Clover still steers the airship into the air. He can barely process what he’s doing as he flies away. The airship is probably still flying only because of Clover’s combined luck and instinct.

The only thought running through his mind is that he hopes with all his heart that they'll be able to fix this mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for the comments!
> 
> I haven't updated in a week or so because of my crap ton of homework. but this is back and should update every 3-5 days for a while. I think. my self control is bad so I'll probably upload the chapters the second I finish them but uh


	5. Qrow's One-Man Emotional Support Squad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> volume 7 episode 1 but gayer

Clover gets the message that an Atlesian ship has made an unauthorized landing and thinks nothing of it as he and the Ace Ops head down to arrest whoever’s there. He expects Mantle citizens who stole an airship, or maybe even the Happy Huntresses.

Instead, they turn the corner and find Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and Qrow. The Ace Ops stop to stare before Clover snaps out of it and beckons them forward. As they approach, Blake Belladonna’s cat ears twitch. Clover faintly remembers her having a black bow and realizes its function as she turns toward them.

The group all turns, their expressions ranging from recognition to suspicion to disinterest. As Qrow faces him, Clover realizes that the only things that allowed him to recognize the witch are his weapon and his outfit. It’s been two years since he last saw Qrow, but those years seem to have taken a heavy toll on him.

Harriet realizes he isn’t going to say anything and pushes past him. “We were sent here with orders to arrest you,” she begins. The group of Huntsmen and Huntresses tense, but Harriet quickly continues, “But we’re not stupid. We know why you’re here.”

Team RWBY and their friends look puzzled, but Qrow nods. “Is there an airship for us?”

Clover blinks and raises a hand to his ear. “This is Alpha. We don’t need the prisoner transport, but we do need a bigger airship.”

Qrow sighs, but no one speaks until Elm rushes forward to shake everyone’s hands, gushing about how much she loves Team RWBY. They take it fairly well, even when she accidentally starts swinging Ruby with an overenthusiastic handshake.

After what seems like an awkward eternity, a larger airship lands. The door opens, and the Ace Ops step aside to allow Team RWBY to file onto the ship. Clover climbs in last, the door closing behind him. He sits down next to Harriet as the airship takes flight.

“Why did it take you so long to get here?” Harriet asks almost immediately. “Wasn’t the Battle of Haven weeks ago?”

“We took a break,” Ruby replies uneasily. “And then there were… complications.”

Even though the group tries to be subtle, Clover notices them all glancing at a boy that he’s never seen before. 

Elm leans forward. “What happened in the Battle of Haven?”

Qrow answers, “We were lured into a trap. Lionheart was working with Salem all along.”

Team RWBY and Team JNPR gape at him. Ruby looks from the Ace Ops and back to Qrow. “They know?”

“I’m pretty sure we found out before you,” Harriet smirks.

“Anyway, we were ambushed. Raven was there… and working with Salem.”

Clover’s eyes widen. He feels guilty for interrupting, but he can’t help but blurt out, “Your sister? Working _with_ Salem?”

Marrow shakes his head, just as surprised. “I knew she left you guys, but I didn’t think she would do something like that. Has she been working with them for long?”

Yang responds for Qrow. “Cinder said she was a recent addition, whatever that means.” She crosses her arms and glares at the opposite wall. 

“Raven and I ended up fighting,” Qrow mutters, looking slightly annoyed with the constant interruptions. “She went down to the Vault with her Spring Maiden while we fought with Cinder, someone named Hazel, Emerald, Mercury, and Lionheart. She was going to get the Relic of Knowledge for Salem. Adam Taurus showed up at the school with the White Fang to blow it up and it turned into a huge mess. We might have blasted a few holes in Haven’s walls.”

Harriet looks like she wants to ask more about Raven, but Clover nudges her and gives her a warning look. It’s clear by his tone that Qrow doesn’t want to talk about Raven more than strictly necessary. No one says anything, so Ruby finally breaks the silence. “Soooo, how do you guys know each other?”

“We met… nineteen years ago on our first mission to find Qrow and the rest of Team STRQ,” Clover says. “And since then, we keep running into each other.”

Qrow raises an eyebrow, a grin coming to his face. “That’s one way to say it.” Team RWBY and Team JNPR wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t say anything else, which only confuses them further.

Leaning over to Clover, Harriet whispers in his ear, “Is he just going to hold that story over our heads now?”

“Probably,” Clover whispers back. 

After that, the three teams slowly relax and start conversations in small groups. Clover sits in silence, sending occasional glances at Nora and Marrow. They’re not shouting yet, but they’ve somehow started arguing about… pancakes?

Finally, Clover looks to Qrow, who also hasn’t been talking. “How have you been?”

“The same as ever,” Qrow replies, his gaze drifting to the floor.

“That’s not an answer.”

Qrow looks up slowly. “I’ve been… fine.”

Clover can tell that he’s most definitely not been _fine_. There’s a certain heaviness in his voice and eyes that tells him that whatever Qrow faced on the way here, it wasn’t good. For a second, Clover considers asking him about it before he remembers that they haven’t talked in two years. Besides that, they weren’t exactly friends to begin with. Clover decides not to pry and let Qrow tell him when he feels ready.

 _In the meantime, Qrow could definitely use some emotional support,_ he thinks. The thought brings a faint smile to his face. He’s always been the Ace Ops’ emotional support, and after nineteen years, Harriet’s taken to calling him the team mom.

“I see,” Clover says carefully. 

When they land in Atlas, Clover lets Harriet take the lead as he follows slightly behind, deep in thought. He’s not sure on how he’s going to approach Qrow about the trip to Atlas yet. There’s one thing he knows for sure- they’ll have to be friends for it to be a subject he can bring up.

Good thing he's always wanted to be friends with Qrow Branwen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what are team strq team attack names


	6. Saving the Gay For Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> clover tries to save the gay for later

_Could Qrow just zap the Geist with his magic?_ Clover wonders as he trudges through the mine, Qrow following him. He casts a glance at the Dust veins in the walls of the mine as he walks. _Does he even need Dust for anything?_

“Gotta say, I’m still not really used to working with other Huntsmen on the field,” Qrow says, snapping Clover out of his thoughts.

“But you were with Team STRQ before, weren’t you?”

Qrow sighs heavily, glancing at the ground. “Long time ago. I just found working alone tends to be for the best.”

“Well, I think that’s a shame,” Clover says before he can think. He blinks when he realizes what he just said. _Nice job, Clover. Nothing weird about that at all._ Trying to think of ways to tone down what he’s said, Clover’s mind lands on how well Qrow fought with Raven. And Raven isn’t a topic he can really bring up.

Before Clover’s had a chance to figure out what to say next, Qrow slips on the icy ground. Clover reaches out and grabs him by the arm as quickly as possible, pulling him to his feet. He still doesn’t say anything to Qrow as he turns away to say into his communicator, “Alpha here. Give me an update.”

“The connecting ice tunnels seem clear. We should be approaching the actual mine any moment now.” As usual, Vine’s voice is so flat and calm that Clover can’t tell if he’s bored or not.

_Well, I guess that’s good_ , Clover thinks, right before Harriet’s voice comes crackling over the communicators. “Bravo checking in. Hit a bit of a snag. There’s been a cave-in in the main entrance. Not sure if it’s recent or was caused by the original accident. Either way, we’ll have to do a little problem solving.”

“Understood. Let us know if you need anything.” Clover lowers his hand and sighs. Of course there’s a cave-in. Just his luck. A few seconds later, he feels a slight rumble.

“This is Bravo! We found the target, but it fled deeper into the mine. Engaging Centinels!”

The only though going through Clover’s head is that their luck isn’t usually this bad just as the Geist bursts into their tunnel with surprising speed. He raises a hand to his ear. “This is Alpha! We’ve engaged the target!”

Qrow raises his sword- Harbinger- and starts firing. The Geist swerves to dodge as Clover continues, “All squads head toward our position!”

Clover runs forward as the Geist starts pulling the icy rocks and Dust in to form its body. He hooks a piece with Kingfisher and yanks at it while Qrow stands back. He can barely focus with the debris swirling around him, but he manages to pull a few chunks away.

“Wait, stop!”

Spinning, Clover looks at Qrow and follows his gaze to a quavering beam. Just as his eyes fall upon it, it collapses in front of him, sending dust flying up into the air.

When the dust clears, Clover finds himself standing in front of a large hole. He frowns as Qrow hurries up to him. “Darn it,” Clover mutters, activating his communicator. “Target escaped, last seen headed east.”

He turns to Qrow. “Thanks for the call-out. That could have been bad.”

Something about his words makes Qrow look even sadder as he sighs, “I wouldn’t thank me. My Semblance brings misfortune. Sometimes I can’t keep it under control.”

_So that’s how he destroyed the whole team on our missions_ , Clover realizes, remembering how Elm’s rockets knocked out Marrow and Vine on their first mission. “That so?”

Clover can tell that Qrow’s Semblance is definitely one of the many things weighing down on him. He can’t help but smile, glad to be able to provide Qrow at least this comfort. “Well, hey, don’t beat yourself up about it.” He casts Kingfisher at a beam and yanks it down. “My Semblance is good fortune.”

The rocks fall down to the hole as the beam falls. Clover tries to suppress the joke, but fails miserably. “Lucky you, huh?” He winks at Qrow.

_So much for saving the gay for later_ , Clover mentally sighs. He walks on ahead to use his communicator again, but he doesn’t miss the heartbreaking look on Qrow’s face. “Charlie, Bravo, you should be able to cut off the target at the heart of the mine. Qrow and I won’t be far behind,” he says, trying to keep his voice casual.

There’s no response until Vine says, “Everyone use caution. This room is highly active with Dust energy. Triggering it could ruin the launch site.”

“ _And_ vaporize us,” Marrow squawks. “How is that always second with you?”

Clover catches a glimpse of something moving at the end of the tunnel, followed by shouting. He speeds up with a gesture to Qrow.

As they step into the cavern, Marrow cuts off the Geist’s arm, sending a purple crystal flying. Clover hears Marrow’s shout of panic, but he steps forward to catch it. “What would you guys do without me?” he teases.

“Can you just zap the Geist?” Clover can’t help but ask.

Qrow shakes his head, his eyes focusing on something Clover can’t see. The dark-haired Huntsman shivers. “Not right now,” he replies, but doesn’t elaborate.

Tossing the crystal to Qrow, Clover salutes him and falls backward to join his team in the cavern. He pulls out Kingfisher and leaps onto the Geist’s leg, using it to launch himself into the air. As he flies up, he flicks his Clover pin and casts Kingfisher at the Geist’s masks. Clover yanks on the line, pulling the much smaller Grimm out of its stone body.

Harriet flies up and punches it with her weapon, turning it to dust. Clover wants to cheer, but they still have one more problem to deal with.

The Geist’s body starts to fall apart, sending Dust falling around the cavern. Clover catches a few along with the other Ace Ops, but Harriet does most of the work.

As Clover swings on a beam to catch another piece, he catches a glimpse of Qrow levitating, catching crystal after crystal. As he watches, Qrow disappears in whirling shadows several times to get another shard. _If he can do that, why can’t he destroy the Geist?_

Clover looks up and sees a purple shard falling towards the earth on the opposite side of the cavern. “Harriet!”

Harriet runs as fast as she can, but she’s too slow. At the last second, a burst of red petals zooms past her, solidifying into Ruby, who catches the crystal in her arms.

Ruby and Harriet start talking about Semblances while Qrow jumps down. “Lucky catch, huh?”

For about one second, Clover considers being humble. “Hm… no. I’d chalk _that_ one up to talent.”

The teams start to cheer. Clover puts a hand up to his ear. “Atlas Control, this is Clover. Mission accomplished.”

\---

The second they leave the mine, Jaune Arc zips in front of Clover with a speed that shouldn’t be possible without Harriet’s Semblance. “You guys were incredible! Oh, the way you took that Geist down without needing to plan your tactics out- you just knew exactly what to do!”

Clover laughs. “Well, Ace Ops are hand-picked to perfectly compliment each other. So we can focus on our assets and leave our liabilities behind.”

“Some of us are _all_ asset, zero liability,” Marrow brags as he walks up. He strikes a pose while the other Ace Ops all prepare snarky responses.

Elm scoffs loud enough for Marrow to turn to her. “Wha- Yeah? Think I’ve got some liabilities, Elm?”

“Your brains, for one.”

Harriet coughs loudly and mutters, “At least there aren’t marshmallows in the field.” They start laughing at Marrow, who just slumps and pouts.

Vine shrugs. “You _did_ ask.”

Nora starts talking to Elm, and Clover can’t pretend he doesn’t jump when Nora screams “THUNDER THIGHS” as loud as she can. Harriet sighs as Ruby runs over to her.

“Perfect complementary teamwork. I want to have my friends’ backs just like that!”

Harriet raises an eyebrow. “Friends?”

Yang frowns, looking confused. “But, I mean, when you go through so much with someone, it kind of changes things, doesn’t it?”

“We get along well enough, sure. I count on them to keep me alive. They do the same. But that’s the job. We don’t confuse the two.”

Clover sends a mock-scandalized look at her and mouths, _we get along well enough?_ Harriet sticks her tongue out in response and they both playfully glare at each other.

Okay, fine. So maybe Clover’s only really friends with Harriet, (being stuck with someone for over twenty years forces you to get along) but that doesn’t mean he can’t get along with Marrow and Elm better than ‘well enough.’ Vine is a special case. In all nineteen years, he’s never once laughed at Clover’s terrible luck jokes. The only significant reaction he’s had to them was the time he slapped his forehead so hard he broke his own aura.

Harriet nudges Clover, staring at Ironwood, who’s talking on his communicator. “Ironwood’s here,” she groans.

“And?”

“Wherever he goes, the Ice Queen follows.” Harriet shivers dramatically, hiding behind Clover. “I’m going to find a hole and die in it before she shows up.”

“Good luck with that.”

Harriet runs off using her Semblance, leaving Clover to deal with Ironwood and (presumably) Winter Schnee.

...Great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> episode 5 could be called sparks to represent the sparks of conflict, but I choose to think that it means it's talking about the sparks flying in everyone's favorite truck scene
> 
> ...anyway the truck scene is next


	7. Sparks...Fly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the truck scene but even more dramatic and also a first draft like all the other brain spill here so sorryyyy.

Clover puts his cards down, feeling a surge of triumph despite the fact that he’s won all ten games. “I win again. Maybe we should call it quits?”

“Shut up and deal.”

Laughing, Clover fathers up the cards and starts shuffling. “Your niece sure is one of a kind, huh?”

“They all are. Been through a lot together.”

Clover’s emotional support plan is instantly set in motion. “It’s a good thing they had someone to look up to and get them through it. Not everyone is so lucky.” He barely avoids putting emphasis on the last word. Barely.

“I don’t know about all that,” Qrow says, looking uncomfortable as Clover starts dealing. “Thanks, by the way. For looking out for ‘em. You and your team.”

Shrugging, Clover replies, “What good is saving the world without another generation waiting in the wings? Hopefully they’ll leave Remnant better than we left it for them.”

“Once upon a time, I’d have drank to that.”

Clover frowns. Qrow hasn’t exactly accepted his compliment. Deciding to push his luck, he says, “You shouldn’t do that, you know.”

“Don’t worry, I gave that up,” Qrow stammers hastily, the haunted look in his eyes becoming more prominent for a second. Clover adds drinking to his mental list of Subjects to Not Bring Up.

“I meant deflect a compliment. Those kids wouldn’t be where they are without you. You’ve had more of an effect on them than you realize.”

He’s rewarded for his efforts when Qrow smiles and rubs the back of his neck, looking away. Clover can’t help but grin as he watches the flustered witch.

Ruby interrupts before they can start talking again. “Uh… Uncle Qrow?”

Clover stands and walks to the front of the truck, peering out the window to see a blonde woman lounging in their path. Robyn Hill.

“What’s going on? Grimm?” Qrow asks as he follows.

“No,” Clover sighs, keeping his gaze on Robyn. “Worse. You two with me. Penny, stay put and keep an eye on our six. We may need an element of surprise.” He hates to call Robyn worse than Grimm, but at least the Grimm usually don’t have so much combat skill.

“Affirmative. I will plan for six possible outcomes.” Penny smiles as she says it.

The truck slows to a stop, and Clover, Qrow and Ruby hop out. Clover saunters forward and calls out to the blonde Huntress, “Robyn! Well, if it isn’t Mantle’s home town hero. Is there a reason you’re blocking an official military transport?”

Robyn smiles tightly, but when she speaks, her tone is as loose and cocky as Clover’s. “Clover, I’m so glad you’re here. Maybe you can help me understand why this truck that’s supposed to be taking construction materials to fix Mantle’s outer wall is on its way to the middle of nowhere. Are you lost?”

Clover gives Robyn a halfhearted glare. He gives a barely convincing laugh and replies, “It’s pretty easy to get turned around out here in the tundra- everything looks the same. Thanks for checking up on us, though. We’ll be on our way now.” He turns and starts stalking away.

“I was hoping you’d play it straight with me. What’s Ironwood doing with Amity at the old SDC mine?”

Stopping, Clover turns back to Robyn. “Oh, that. Just giving her an annual checkup.” Lying to Robyn isn’t fun, but Clover knows he has to. She’s not allowed to know and that’s that. “And nothing about me is straight.”

Qrow and Ruby choke in the background.At least one person mutters, “Same.” Clover can’t tell who it was.

Robyn hides her amusement well, but Clover’s known her for too long to not notice the corners of her mouth twitching up.“The next Vytal Festival isn’t anytime soon,” Robyn says. “Only automated drones and a few select Atlas scientists are allowed out here. And Amity’s getting invaluable resources we need in Mantle to protect against Grimm. Seems like more than just a check-up.”

“You’ve been scoping it out,” Clover realizes. 

“We can’t fix the wall without the supplies on these trucks. I think Mantle deserves to know what they’re being used for. It doesn’t have to be difficult. Just tell me.” Robyn extends a hand and gives him a smile. Her voice is too sweet to be natural and at the same time, too cold to be talking to her former team leader.

Clover stares at her hand, remembering many nights of disastrous truth or dare games and even more nights of chasing down small criminals and using Robyn’s Semblance on them. For a moment, he wishes that he could just tell Robyn, but he remembers swiftly that he can’t risk it. It still takes a while for him to say, “I’m going to have to pass on that.”

Robyn frowns for a second, disappointment darkening her gaze. She turns to Qrow and Ruby. “How ‘bout you, pipsqueak? Five o’clock shadow? Either of you want to tell me why Mantle’s being put at risk for Ironwood’s pet project?

“We’re trying to _help_ Mantle,” Ruby tries to explain, stepping forward. “We need-”

“That’s enough, Robyn,” Clover interrupts. “As a potential Councilwoman, you should probably focus on the election instead of harassing Huntsmen. Now, it’s time to let us pass.”

“I think you’ve misjudged the situation,” Robyn snaps. “One way or another, these supplies are going to get where they’re supposed to go- Mantle.”

“Then I suggest you do that through the proper legal channels as Councilwoman. _If_ you get elected,” Clover retorts.

“Now where’s the fun in that?”

Penny bursts from the truck, her swords levitating behind her. “Robyn Hill,” she calls out. “I would like to politely ask that you call off the Huntresses approaching the rear of the truck.”

Clover turns, but sees nothing until Robyn calls out to the thin air. Two Huntresses appear from behind the truck, frowns on their faces.

“The Protector of Mantle, huh?” Robyn scoffs.

“Let us through, please,” Pennys says firmly.

For a second, Clover’s sure they’re about to fight. Eventually, the tension eases and Robyn sighs. The Faunus behind her opens the barricade.

“Ironwood’s brainwashing you,” Robyn says softly to Clover. “You don’t have to listen to his every order, you know. You can trust me.”

“I trust Ironwood far more than I trust you,” Clover replies curtly, but the sadness doesn’t completely make it out of his voice. “Good luck at the election, Robyn.”

He doesn’t look back as he steps into the truck and they drive away. 

“That was a close one,” Qrow says when they’re far enough away.

Clover can only sigh. “You’re telling me.”

Qrow hesitates before asking, “How do you know Robyn?”

“When we attended Atlas, she was on Team CHRY with me,” Clover admits. “Harriet and I joined the other three because they’d lost their leader. Robyn started the Happy Huntresses and our last teammate went with her.”

Nodding, Qrow stares off into the distance, and Clover knows he’s thinking of his own team. He doesn’t notice that Qrow looks back at him until he says, “Did you really just tell her that nothing about you was straight?”

“It was one of Team CHRY’s inside jokes,” Clover shrugs. “She’s probably said it more than me.”

Qrow huffs a laugh and doesn’t respond, choosing to stare out the window instead.

A Beowolf howls somewhere out in the tundra. Clover glances at the window and then looks back to Qrow, whose face has returned to its characteristic frown.

Even though he’s heard the sound many times before, Clover shivers. Despite the fact that their run-in with Robyn ended peacefully, he can’t shake the feeling that things are going to go wrong very soon.

(He’s not wrong.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look I have an appreciation for even slightly serious moments, but the pull of the gay jokes is too strong


	8. Sparring (Now With a Side of Tension!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow, Clover, Winter and Harriet have a long ass training scene (and some tension because what's hotter than someone holding a sword to your throat) and this is unfortunately the longest chapter and it's only a little bit plot relevant if you stretch it :/. Winter vs. Harriet is kind of unnecessary but I put it in anyway

“...You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Harriet-”

“The Ice Queen? Really, Clover? I never thought you’d betray me like this.”

Clover looks up to Harriet, who glares accusingly at him and points to Winter. He shrugs. “You did say you needed four or eight people for a tournament, and Elm and Vine are busy trying to hide the marshmallows from Marrow.”

“You call her the Ice Queen?” Qrow looks delighted. “It’s nice to see that it caught on.” Winter groans and shoots Qrow a look that is undeniably icy, but his smirk just grows. 

“That’s enough. Harriet, if you still want your tournament…” Clover trails off and gestures to Winter. 

Harriet sighs as loudly as possible and trudges to the center of the training room, her weapon activating and wrapping around her arms. A second later, Winter follows her, putting her hand on her sword. They stand across from each other as a large screen appears over the arena. 

_Winter Schnee: 100%  
Harriet Bree: 100%_

“Whenever you’re ready,” Clover says to them. He sits down on a bench next to Qrow, ready to enjoy the show.

Three seconds full of intense glaring pass before Harriet leaps forward, straight at Winter. In a flash, Winter’s sword is out to block the first blow.

Harriet dives at the last second, using her Semblance to duck under the blade and skid right between Winter’s legs before she stands up again and punches Winter as hard as she can.

Clover winces at the clang of metal on metal as Winter jerks around with surprising speed and blocks the punch with her sword. She underestimates the amount of force that Harriet uses, causing her to stumble. 

Capitalizing on the opportunity, Harriet moves to punch Winter in the face. The white-haired Huntress steps to the side, grabs Harriet’s arm and throws her backward into a wall. Winter uses a glyph to propel herself forward, sword outstretched.

Right before the sword hits her, Harriet disappears in a crackle of electricity and circles back around to attack Winter. Winter skids to a stop and jumps off another glyph, flying through the air as Harriet’s fist hits the wall instead.

Harriet whirls and watches as Winter hops from glyph to glyph in the air, heading towards the opposite end of the arena. Clover watches her eyes narrow as she follows, leaping onto Winter’s glyphs before the specialist can get rid of them.

They meet at the other end of the training room in a blur of swords and fists. Winter kicks Harriet back and brandishes the sword that she’s now split in two. Clover takes his eyes off them for a second to look up at the screen.

_Winter Schnee: 97%  
Harriet Bree: 90%_

Clover shakes his head. Trust Harriet to get sloppy the one time she gets the opportunity to punch the Ice Queen in the face.

Even as he thinks it, Winter leaps onto a platform and smirks down at Harriet. “If you’d like, you can give up now.”

Harriet growls, but there’s no real way for her to climb up to the platform. She glances at the close-by wall and prepares to jump off of it. She leaps as far as she can up the wall, pushes off of it, and lands on the wall leading up to Winter’s platform. Harriet jumps again from there back to the opposite wall and finally spins to land next to Winter.

In the blink of an eye, Winter summons her glyphs to shoot three huge fireballs at Harriet. She dodges all of them with a few awkward tumbles through the air, but ends up hanging on the edge of the platform. Winter points her sword at her and prepares to strike.

Pushing herself up, Harriet punches the platform and uses the momentum to swing her legs over her head and kick Winter in the face.

Qrow stifles a laugh at Winter’s expression as Harriet’s shoe collides with her nose. Winter’s hand raises to touch where Harriet kicked her as Harriet stands up on the platform.

With a cry of victory, Harriet moves to punch Winter in the face.

A huge Alpha Beowolf materializes and takes the hit. Harriet blinks as it grabs her fist and roughly throws her off the platform. Winter leaps down a second later. Clover doesn’t hear what she says to Harriet, but a second later, Winter kicks his teammate in the face just like Harriet did a few seconds earlier.

Winter and her summon step away from the wall and platform back to the center of the training room. Harriet follows her, her Semblance activating as she runs around Winter and the Beowolf, too fast for Winter to catch.

A glyph glows beneath Winter’s feet as she raises her swords, her eyes cold. The glyph swirls and becomes the image of a clock whose hands start spinning uncontrollably.

Harriet lunges, her fist drawn back. Winter’s Time Dilation glyph surrounds her in a soft glow as she easily dodges. Clover stops trying to follow their actual movements and looks back up at the screen.

_Winter Schnee: 60%  
Harriet Bree: 30%_

“I guess Harriet’s not winning this fight,” Clover mutters. The numbers tick down. He waits for Harriet to hit 20% so he can stop the match. 

Harriet’s aura is at 24% as she skids back from Winter, whose glyph finally disappears. Growling, Harriet charges forward for one last attack. She dodges the ice shards and fireballs and even runs around a wall of ice, her Semblance coming back into effect.

Winter appears again from behind the wall of ice as Harriet punches her in the face. The white-haired Huntress flies backwards and lands hard against the far wall, but she sits up quickly and starts directing her Beowolf.

As Winter stumbles to her feet, the Beowolf leans down to Harriet, whose back is turned. She turns too late, and the white summon picks her up in its jaws. It bites down, dropping her aura to 21% before tossing her at Winter’s feet. 

_Winter Schnee: 46%  
Harriet Bree: 19%_

Harriet struggles to push herself up as the screen beeps, signaling the end of the match. She looks up as Winter walks over to stand in front of her, glaring.

The specialist sighs and offers her a hand.

Glowering, Harriet tries to stand on her own. After a few seconds, she sighs and takes Winter’s gloved hand, allowing her to help her up.

Clover stands up and looks to Qrow. “I guess it’s our turn, then.”

As they walk to the center of the arena, Winter supports Harriet until she can walk herself. Harriet wipes her hand on her shorts.

The screen resets as Qrow and Clover take their positions.

_Clover Ebi: 100%  
Qrow Branwen: 100%_

“No using your magic on me,” Clover reminds Qrow.

“Can I fly?” Qrow’s eyes sparkle for the briefest second as he leans on Harbinger. 

Clover considers it. “Sure.”

Qrow grins and raises his sword, slipping into a fighting stance. Clover pulls out Kingfisher and activates it. 

In a blur of black and red, Qrow shoots forward. Clover blocks the strike and swings his fist at Qrow, who catches his wrist and kicks him off his feet. Clover casts Kingfisher at a platform and grapples away, watching as Qrow leaves a dent in the floor with his sword. Flipping up to the platform, Clover retracts Kingfisher’s hook and waits.

Seconds later, Qrow appears in the air, soaring straight for Clover. He fires a few shots as he draws nearer, which Clover deflects. Clover ducks under Qrow and hooks onto his sword, letting himself get pulled into the air after him.

Before he can enact his plan, Qrow swings his sword so that Clover gets smashed into the wall. He almost loses his grip on his weapon, but manages to hang on as he retracts Kingfisher’s hook again. The weapon pulls him close to Qrow, where he slams into him and knocks him out of the air.

Clover swings off of a platform and lands on his feet. Qrow tumbles through the air with seemingly no control over his movement until Harbinger is suddenly stuck in the floor. Qrow poses on top of his own sword with ease.

Chuckling to himself, Clover casts Kingfisher’s hook at Qrow to knock him off balance. He has to admit, Qrow has way too much style for this world.

Qrow flips off his sword, grabbing its handle as he spins. In one smooth movement, he lands with his sword outstretched. Clover takes just a moment to stop for breath before he charges, slipping under Qrow’s blade and yanking his arm back with Kingfisher.

Harbinger goes flying to the opposite end of the training room. Qrow’s head snaps to the side as he watches it go, and Clover waits for him to go after it.

Instead, Qrow turns back and punches him in the face. Clover staggers for a second but recovers quickly and throws his horseshoe.

Ducking, Qrow snatches the horseshoe from the air and raises an eyebrow. “How many good luck charms do you have?”

“You should see how many spare horseshoes he has,” Harriet calls from where she and Winter are watching the fight. “It’s ridiculous. Marrow filled the elevator with them once!”

Qrow turns to shoot Harriet a look and Clover uses it to try to kick Qrow. Not even looking at him, Qrow dodges easily and throws the horseshoe back at his face.

Clover tries to duck under it, but when he’s already balancing on one foot, there’s not a lot he can do without falling on the ground. The horseshoe barely misses him as it hits the wall and clatters to the ground.

The next thing Clover knows, his legs are being swept out from under him. Qrow grabs his arm and flings him up into the air, flying after him. He tries to grapple onto a nearby platform, but Qrow catches the hook and uses it to swing him into the ground.

“Yikes,” Harriet says as Clover gets to his feet. 

As Qrow slowly flies down to him, Clover checks the screen.

_Clover Ebi: 75%  
Qrow Branwen: 98%_

Clover can’t help but sigh. There’s a reason Qrow’s destroyed the Ace Ops thirteen times alone (and twice with Raven’s help). 

Qrow is suddenly in front of him, swinging a punch. Clover blocks it with Kingfisher and spins under his arm to avoid a second punch. He kicks Qrow and is surprised when the attack actually connects.

Stepping away, Qrow shoots a glance at Harbinger on the other side of the training room. He starts to fly towards it, but Clover catches him with Kingfisher. This time, he doesn’t allow himself to get dragged along. Clover grabs onto the side of the platform and strains to hang on as Qrow tugs on Kingfisher.

The witch looks at the hook attached to his leg and frowns, moving to unhook it. While he’s distracted, Clover pulls with all his might and throws Qrow into the wall opposite his sword.

Another glance at the screen tells Clover that Qrow is at 93% aura. He rushes to where Qrow lands in order to block him from his sword. Qrow is dangerous enough without Harbinger- he doesn’t need another weapon.

Qrow stands up and runs for him, but his eyes are on his sword. Clover sees what he’s going to do and pretends to try to knock him off his feet. His opponent dodges as expected, but Kingfisher catches him in the stomach and sends him sprawling.

In a burst of shadow, Qrow darts for Harbinger. Clover barely catches him in time, yanking him away with Kingfisher. “I thought we said no magic?”

“First of all,” Qrow begins, but he doesn’t get to finish as Clover kicks him even farther away from his sword. As he stops in midair to levitate, he finally says, “You said I couldn’t use my magic on you.”

“You’re not wrong,” Clover sighs. He runs forward, leaps into the air and tries to kick Qrow. When the attack misses, he’s prepared. Kingfisher wraps around Qrow’s arm as Clover pushes off a platform to swing around Qrow.

Fully tangled in Kingfisher’s line, Qrow is easily slammed to the floor. Clover checks their auras.

_Clover Ebi: 70%  
Qrow Branwen: 86%_

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Clover waits for Qrow to get up. He rushes for him the second the witch stands.

Still tangled in Kingfisher, Qrow’s options are limited. He kicks Clover away once, but he’s still unbalanced. Clover tries to kick him back, but Qrow just disappears in shadow.

Reappearing just outside of Kingfisher’s line, Qrow grabs the hook and tugs. Clover watches as Kingfisher’s line turns into a jumble of knots and sighs. “You know it’s going to take forever for me to untangle that, right?”

“I’m counting on it,” Qrow responds right before he takes off running for his sword. 

By the time Clover reacts, it’s almost too late to do anything. He nearly catches up with Qrow a few feet away from the sword, but he knows he won’t quite make it.

Clover lunges and tackles Qrow. It’s not one of his finest movements, but after Qrow elbows him a few times, he manages to pin Qrow down.

Qrow blinks and stops struggling, panting hard. He raises an eyebrow. “Are you going to let me up?”

Before Clover can respond, Qrow reaches out and just barely gets his fingers to wrap around Harbinger’s hilt. In a flash, Qrow reverses their positions and holds the sword to Clover’s neck. 

Harriet starts clapping as Clover checks the screen one more time.

_Clover Ebi: 59%  
Qrow Branwen: 78%_

“You might want to give up,” Qrow says.

Clover considers his situation. “...Fine.”

Qrow rolls off of him and helps him up. They return to Harriet and Winter as Clover picks up his scroll and sets the screen up for Qrow vs. Winter.

Before he can send the command, a message appears on the screen.

GENERAL IRONWOOD: Can I speak with you?

Clover sighs and looks up at the Huntsman and Huntresses in front of him. “Qrow vs. Winter will have to wait.”

Harriet frowns and reads the message upside down. “I guess if General Ironwood wants you to go, we don’t really have a choice.”

“We should fight at full aura anyway,” Winter agrees.

“Fine with me,” Qrow shrugs. “At least I know now that I don’t completely need my sword to beat Clover.”

Clover shoves his scroll into his pocket and starts walking away. “Next time,” he calls over his shoulder. The last thing he hears before he leaves is Qrow and Winter starting to argue back in the training room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> try to figure out how this is at all plot relevant I dare you
> 
> on a completely unrelated note, the ace ops and qrow probably aren't canonically around the same age but uh. they are now.


	9. Slight Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow info dumps for 40 hours

Once Team RWBY and their friends leave for their night off, Clover has to adjust to the absolute silence as he walks through the halls. Normally, it’s at least a little noisy, (Marrow and Elm wreck something at least once a week) but right now, he could hear a pin drop in these halls. 

He finds himself wandering into the break room once he’s accepted that there’s no way for him to get even more bored than he already is. Luckily, his boredom disappears once he walks in the door.

Qrow turns around from the sofa. “You’re still here?”

“No, actually. I’m just a hologram.” Clover sits down next to him. “You didn’t want to go to the election party or the movie?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go to either of them,” he replies, shooting a sad look at the ground. “Especially since…”

_Right. His Semblance._ Clover struggles to find the words to respond. He knows that this is about Qrow’s misfortune, but all he can come up with is “Especially since what?”

“Especially since I’m tipping too far on the magic scale,” Qrow admits, his voice little more than a whisper. The haunted look in his eyes that has been recently fading returns in full.

Clover frowns. The words don’t ring a bell. “Magic scale?”

Qrow sits up and shoots him a disbelieving look. “Did you ever learn about witches in school?”

“We didn’t have a lot of primary sources,” Clover shrugs. “According to the school curriculum, you’re all evil beings that can’t be considered humans and who occasionally eat small children. Plus unknown dark powers, flying on brooms and lots of evil potion making.”

“What? Children noodle soup is delicious.” Qrow says it so defensively that Clover can’t help shock from flitting across his face. Qrow sees it and snorts. “Okay, fine. Just kidding. In reality, about twenty percent of what you said is true.”

“What did I get right?”

“We’re technically not human,” Qrow responds. “But we don’t eat children, we know our powers and they’re not all dark, we don’t need brooms to fly and we don’t make potions because they’re painfully hard. The rest are just a bunch of fairy tales that most humans believe.”

Clover ignores the implication that Qrow has made a potion in the past and chooses to focus on his power instead. “They’re not all dark? Does that have something to do with this scale of yours?”

Qrow nods in confirmation. “There’s three kinds of magic- light, neutral, and dark. Neutral magic is pretty easy to understand. It’s stuff like traveling as shadows or shielding yourself. The line between dark and light magic, on the other hand, is thin. Remember when I killed those Goliaths at Beacon?”

He waits for Clover to nod before he continues, “I did that with the intention to protect you, so it counted as light magic. And since I’d been using so much light magic to protect the people of Vale, it was a lot easier than it usually was. The more light magic you use, it gets easier to use light and harder to use dark. But after that…”

When Clover realizes Qrow doesn’t seem to be planning on continuing, he gently prompts, “After that?”

Squeezing his eyes shut, Qrow takes a second to respond. “In the Battle of Haven, when I realized that Raven joined Salem, I was so angry. For a second, I actually wanted to hurt her. So when I used my magic, it ended up being dark. Raven didn’t even fight back with her magic and I still... For the rest of the battle, no matter what I tried, I kept using dark magic. And if you use enough of it, your soul gets affected.

“They say that some witches can command Grimm, and they’re right. Once you slip past a certain threshold, it’s hard to come back from it. The biggest warning sign that you’re too far down the dark magic path is when Grimm ignore you. When we were in the mine with the Petra Gigas, it looked right at me- and didn’t attack. After that, you start gaining influence over the Grimm. But when you command Grimm, you can be commanded by their mistress.”

“Salem,” Clover blurts. 

Qrow nods. “I’ve been trying to use my light magic whenever I can, but it’s hard. Witches can feel their balance, and mine’s not looking good.” As if to prove it, his gaze turns to the air, and he trembles ever so slightly.

“Oh,” is all Clover can say. He was prepared for the Semblance arguments, but not this. He didn’t even know about all of this before he came in.

“Actually…” Qrow turns to him. “Can I trust you?”

“Of course-”

“It’s more than you think. If I tell you this, you can’t tell anyone. Not Ironwood. Not the other Ace Ops. No one.”

Clover considers for a brief second and nods.

“And if you tell someone anyway, I’ll curse you,” Qrow threatens. “So keep that in mind when you think about telling someone.”

The witch takes a deep breath. “When Raven went down with Cinder and her Spring Maiden, Vernal, into the vault, I didn’t know any better. But soon after that, I felt a huge magic surge- the power of two Maidens. Except the Spring Maiden’s magical signature wasn’t Vernal’s- it was Raven’s. For a human, being a Maiden means having more magic than any witch, but that magic needs to recharge just like ours. A witch as a Maiden, on the other hand… their power is basically unlimited. She didn’t even shield from my magic because she didn’t want to let Cinder know her secret.”

“But isn’t that good if Raven was our Maiden and fighting against Cinder? Doesn’t that mean we’re equal?”

“Do you see Raven with us?” Qrow demands. “That’s because she’s gone. She left. I don’t know what Yang said to her in the vault, but she’s not fighting against Salem. Your Winter Maiden isn’t exactly in fighting condition either. So no, we’re not equal. We have exactly one witch on our side, and they’re about to become Salem’s pet.”

Clover sits straighter when he gets the idea. “What about Yang? Isn’t she Raven’s daughter?”

Qrow’s eyes narrow as he stares resolutely ahead. “She is.”

“So does she have magic?”

“Have you seen her when she gets angry? She’s half-witch and it shows. She definitely can’t control it, but the explosions and the fire aren’t just coincidences.” Qrow sighs. “But she’s still not a witch.”

“You’re sure there’s no way for you to fix your magic easily?”

“Healing,” Qrow responds. “As long as you don’t drain the life force of something, healing is pure light magic. It’s more instinctual, though. I can’t just squish a fly and heal it. I have to actually care. And it would have to be a pretty serious wound at this point- like if I stabbed someone with Harbinger. Not to mention that it comes with some unfortunate side effects.”

Before Clover can ask what those unfortunate side effects are, they’re interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Harriet walks in, surveys the scene, and immediately backpedals out.

“Harriet, what are you doing?” Clover groans, despite knowing exactly what she’s trying to do. 

“Nothing,” Harriet calls back, but she returns with her scroll anyway. “I just wanted to watch our training replays somewhere other than where Elm’s destroying the place. But it seems like you two are trying to have a moment so I’ll just go now byeeee-”

“Did you say replays?” Qrow asks, suddenly interested. He misses the glare that Clover shoots Harriet. “Can we watch them?”

Harriet considers and then flips onto the sofa next to Clover, putting her scroll on the table. The screen projects a video of Harriet and Winter stalking to their places in the training room. She shoots them a glance and then immediately sprawls out over half of the couch, forcing Clover to move even closer to Qrow.

Clover shoots her his dirtiest glare yet. She winks back, but for the rest of the replays, she acknowledges nothing.

When the replays (and Harriet’s embarrassed groaning at her own failures) are over, everyone stands up to go to bed. Harriet steps out of the break room with a final “Good night, idiots.”

“Good night,” Clover responds. He checks the time and winces. The replays took longer than he was expecting. Marrow and the kids should be back any time now. 

Qrow turns to him. “‘Night, Cloves.”

When Clover leaves, Harriet is right outside the door. “ _Cloves?_ ” She squeals. “I didn’t know he had a nickname for you!”

“Neither did I,” Clover sighs. He and Harriet start down the hallway towards the Ace Ops’ rooms. “That’s the first time he’s called me that.”

“I call that relationship progress.”

“Harriet…”

“Fine, fine. You know, when I said save the gay for later, I didn’t mean two decades later. Two hours would have been nice.”

“The last time I told you to save the gay for later-”

“The last time you told me to save the gay for later, Clover, was when I was staring at Robyn at graduation. And I seem to recall I bet you I could save the gay and the straight for at least ten years. You still haven’t paid me.”

“I could have paid you if all the wall-smashing the rest of you do didn’t come out of our paychecks.”

“To be fair, the crack in our wall is kind of your fault.”

“Vine hit himself into the wall, not me,” Clover shrugs.

“I don’t have time for technicalities.”

“Yet you have time to hide Marrow’s marshmallows in a different place every day.”

Harriet doesn’t respond as they open the door to the Ace Ops’ room, but there’s a smile on both of their faces. The door swings open to reveal Marrow, whose tail is drooping.

“Marrow! When did you get back?” Clover begins. “I thought the party didn’t end until-”

“Recently,” Marrow interrupts. “Something went wrong at the election party.”

The happiness on Clover and Harriet’s faces fades immediately. “What was it?”

Marrow sighs. “You might want to sit down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on a new au so good thing I have like 6 chapters ready to go


	10. The Schnee Manor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the schnee manor drama just gayer

Clover steps out of the car and stares at the Schnee Manor, taking in its massive size. The Ace ops climb out of the car as Team RWBY shuts the car doors. Weiss and Winter file behind Ironwood, apprehension in every line of their faces.

Ironwood rings the bell, and a moment later, a white-haired boy appears in the doorway. “Good evening, everyone,” Whitley says.

“Where’s Klein?” Weiss asks immediately.

Whitley smiles with only the slightest bit of cruelty. “What an interesting way to say ‘Hello, dear brother, how have you been?’” He crosses his arms. “I’m afraid you won’t find him here. He was let go. I can’t imagine why.”

Although Clover doesn’t know who Klein is, he can tell that Weiss is horrified by the way she gasps and shrinks back. 

Her brother smirks in victory and turns to Ironwood. “General, exactly how large do you think our dining table is?”

“I happen to know it’s enormous. But most of my guests will be on standby in case the council requests additional eye witnesses. Until then, I’m sure they’ll be happily celebrating your father’s victory.”

Qrow leans over to Clover, keeping his eyes on Whitley. “I get the feeling that this isn’t going to go well.”

“At least you don’t have to be in the same room as Jacques. Every time I see him, I just want to punch him in the face.”

“Welcome to the club,” Qrow sighs, trudging into the manor.

As they walk in, Clover stays next to Qrow. _Should I ask him to dance?_ It’s a fleeting thought, but Clover still takes a moment to consider it. Before he can make his decision, Whitley turns in the center of the room. “For those of you joining us in the dining room, please follow me.”

Sighing to himself, Clover follows Ironwood, Winter and Penny into the dining room. He looks back as he walks. “Wish us luck,” he says more to Qrow and Harriet than anyone else.

Harriet rolls her eyes, but Qrow snorts and replies, “I mean, they already invited you, didn’t they?”

Clover can’t help but smirk before he turns back and follows the others. The entire way through the doors, he feels Qrow’s gaze on him, but doesn’t turn back.

Any of his thoughts go out the window when he sees Jacques Schnee in the dining room. He opens his arms from where he sits at the head of the table, but the gesture seems forced. “General Ironwood, please have a seat.”

Everyone sits down with Ironwood as far from Schnee as he can possibly be. Clover’s gaze travels around the room and lands on Robyn, who is already looking at him. 

“Councilwoman _Hill_ would have had a nice ring to it. Though I suppose I should just be grateful I got invited to the table.” Robyn sits down in the middle of the table and her gaze finally leaves Clover’s.

Jacques chuckles. “Miss Hill, that vigor of yours is precisely why we’re grateful to have you with us tonight.”

Ironwood doesn’t even pretend to welcome her. “What is _she_ doing here?”

“What we’re all doing here, James,” Jacques replies. “Addressing the concerns of our kingdom, which means we have much to discuss.”

“Indeed. I was hoping we could start by-”

“Are we safe with _her_ here, by the way?” Jacques interrupts to look obviously at Penny, who wilts a little in her chair. Clover wants to offer her a word or two of comfort, but she’s across the table from him. “I do recall some confusion regarding her involvement with the horrific massacre.”

“As the official report stated, that footage was doctored. Penny is _completely_ under my control,” Ironwood retorts. 

“Which is concerning, I think.”

“Concerning?”

As a waiter enters the room with their food, Jacques says, “Let’s talk about exactly what it is you control.”

That’s about when Clover zones out, already bored. Politics aren’t exactly his strong suit. Luckily, Harriet comes to the rescue over the earpiece. “I can’t believe you’re stuck with the Ice Queen and her father.”

Clover discreetly raises a hand to his ear and taps out a response in Morse code. _Do you have nothing better to do than bother me?_

“Clearly. And you have nothing better to do than to tap out that entire message.”

_You know I hate politics._

“Yes I do- Ooooohhhh. Guess who just walked around the corner?” Harriet waits for his response.

It’s agonizingly slow to tap out his message, so Clover settles for Qrow. He plans to say more, but Harriet interrupts him.

“Yep! You know, when you left the room, he didn’t stop staring at you until the doors shut.”

“Are you talking to someone?” Clover hears the distinct rasp of Qrow’s voice in the background.

“Nope! No one!” Harriet yells. He hears the pounding of fast footsteps before she returns to Clover. “But anyway, I know you’re no better…”

_CHANGE_ \- Clover taps as fast as he can when she pauses to catch her breath.

“...than him, because I swear every time-”

_THE-_

“-you look at him you kind of-”

“Change the subject now, please and thank you,” Clover hisses. He glances guiltily up at the Council. Luckily, they’re too busy listening to Jacques’s words to notice.

Jacques finishes, “Have your forces found any additional evidence as to who is slaughtering innocent civilians down in Mantle?”

It takes a second for Clover to realize that Ironwood is waiting for him to answer. “That is an ongoing investigation, the details of which are classified, I’m afraid.”

Barely waiting for Clover to finish, Jacques continues on. “ _I’m_ afraid of the ever-growing list of classified information you seem to be keeping. I asked our fellow councilmen here to shed some light on your Amity Colosseum project and, as it turns out, they know about as much as I do.

Winter starts tapping her finger on the table. The sound isn’t too loud, but it’s definitely distracting. For a moment, Clover even wonders if she’s trying to join the conversation.

“Even you don’t know?” Robyn asks.

“The Amity Project will _help_ with all of the issues you’ve presented, but you have to understand that discretion is a top priority at this time.”

“Are you saying you don’t trust us?” Jacques snarls.

The tapping speeds up until Winter slams her fist on the table and stands up. “You can’t just buy trust like everything else, you have to _earn_ it!”

Robyn looks to Winter with a faint grin that Clover almost mirrors before he sees the unpleasant smile on Jacques’s face. “I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Schnee sneers.

Winter gasps and doesn’t say anything as Jacques turns to address Ironwood. “General, if I may be blunt, you have _spent_ what little trust this Council had left in you. The hacker who turned Atlas drones against us was never captured. Whoever’s been murdering your critics is still at large. How are we supposed to give you our trust when you've given us nothing as of late?”

“That’s not what-” Winter begins, but she’s cut off.

“Winter,” Ironwood says. “That’s enough.”

Winter clenches her fists. “Excuse me.” She stalks out of the room, the door shutting harshly behind her. A second later, without being excused, Penny follows her.

Councilwoman Camilla turns to Ironwood after a brief pause. “General, since the day you were appointed Headmaster, there have been Atlesians who are skeptical of one man holding two Council seats.”

“Yes, which is exactly why we have checks and balances.”

“We’re _supposed_ to,” Sleet grumbles, “But lately you’ve been running roughshod all over them, making unilateral decisions without us.”

“Councilman, I never intended-”

“What people intend and what they don’t do aren’t always the same, General.”

Clover turns to the side, hoping to talk to Harriet again. She hasn’t spoken since he told her to change the subject. As he turns, he sees a butler whispering in Jacques’s ear.

“Hm? What? For how long?” Jacques murmurs to the butler. Clover strains to hear him as he continues, “My authorization? Check it again!”

The butler leaves as Sleet turns to Jacques. “Councilman Schnee?”

Jacques adjusts his tie, looking tense. “Yes, I uh… agree with everything, everything that was, uh, just said. No, uh, no further questions.” He sits down as everyone stares at him.

Robyn doesn’t take long to turn back to Ironwood. “I’m not quite done yet. You’re afraid of something, General. Aren’t you?”

“I think that’s pretty obvious, Miss Hill. I’m trying to prevent Atlas from becoming another Beacon, another Haven.”

“Yet, you don’t trust your own Council to help you? Operating in secret? These are the actions of somebody who’s hiding something.”

“I’m not hiding anything.”

“Let’s put it to the test then.” Clover knows what Robyn is about to do before she stands and extends her hand to Ironwood. “You’re all aware of my Semblance. Let’s settle it here and now, General Ironwood.”

Clover watches as Ironwood glances between her extended hand and the Council. Before Ironwood can make his choice, the doors burst open to reveal Weiss.

“Wait!” Weiss cries as she walks into the room. “You’ve got the wrong man on trial. I know who’s been framing Ironwood, who rigged the election. And my father does, too. He’s been working with him.”

As she speaks, Clover’s eyes settle on Jacques, who looks more and more nervous with each word that comes out of her mouth. When Weiss projects a video from a scroll, he looks like he’s about to faint.

Clover studies the paused video and recognizes the man sitting near Jacques. “Is that… Arthur Watts?” Camilla asks.

“That’s impossible! Dr. Watts died in the Paladin Incident years ago,” Sleet says.

“What is this?” Jacques stammers, his gaze flicking towards the closed doors.

“Play it,” Ironwood orders.

The group watches in stunned silence as Watts and Jacques make a deal. Robyn looks angrier by the second, while Ironwood just frowns. Finally, Ironwood has Weiss stop the video.

Jacques stammers excuses, but Sleet orders him to sit. But instead of sitting, he whirls and runs for the door. Clover reaches for Kingfisher, but before he can catch him, an Arma Gigas appears in front of him.

“Weiss…” Jacques mutters, only a hint of desperation in his voice.

“Jacques Schnee, you’re under arrest,” Weiss snaps, pulling out her scroll to show her license. She hesitates and turns to Ironwood. “Can I do that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok next chapter some shit's going to go down
> 
> also if you're wondering about the unfortunate side effects of healing, I'll give you a hint  
> it isn't clover you should be worried about >:)


	11. Slight Issues Get Worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shit goes down, as promised

“This is getting boring,” Clover hisses as he and Qrow crouch on the rooftop, waiting for Tyrian.

“Shut up,” Qrow replies. “Tyrian’s right over there.” He nods towards a crouching figure watching Robyn from a few rooftops down.

“He can’t hear us,” Clover says. “But I’m starting to doubt that hiding like this is really worth it.”

“Speak for yourself,” Qrow growls. “When Ruby was traveling to Haven, he poisoned me. It wasn’t great.”

Clover turns to stare at him, wide-eyed. “How are you still alive?”

“It was his old stinger.”

“What happened to that one, then?”

Qrow smirks darly, keeping his eyes on Tyrian. “Ruby cut it clean off with her scythe.”

Before Clover can respond, Tyrian jumps down into the alleyway. Qrow and Clover glance at each other and start hopping across the rooftops to where Robyn is.

Tyrian charges, but Clover casts Kingfisher at him. The hook doesn’t make contact, but it makes the scorpion Faunus realize he’s not alone. He looks up as Qrow and Clover drop down next to Robyn.

“Sorry, Callows. I really wanted to pummel you on my own, but the general insisted I share,” Robyn sneers, raising her crossbow.

“Well, you’re not the only one with a grudge,” Clover says.

Qrow snorts as he raises his sword. “You’ll _both_ have to get in line.”

_That’s fair._

“Tyrian Callows, you’re under arrest.” It might not be worth anything, but it’s still procedure. As Clover expected, Tyrian starts laughing.

Qrow moves forward first, slashing wildly at Tyrian. Clover tries to follow their movements as they dodge and attack again, the clanging of metal filling the air.

Knocking Tyrian back, Qrow raises a hand. A fireball appears in his palm, bright enough to light up their surroundings, but it quickly goes out. Qrow looks at his hand in shock and back to Tyrian, who starts laughing even louder.

This time, when Qrow lunges, Clover’s ready. He hooks one of Tyrian’s arms, distracting him enough for Robyn to fire her crossbow.

Soon enough, all four of them are moving so fast that Clover doesn’t have time to process anything. Instead, he just moves on instinct, improvising as he goes. When he catches a glimpse of Tyrian snarling with his tail poised to strike, Clover doesn’t think. He casts Kingfisher at Tyrian’s tail and yanks it back.

Even though they’re moving so quickly, Qrow still meets Clover’s eyes and gives him a grateful nod before he spins and knocks Tyrian off of his feet.

Clover gets the chance to pant for about two seconds before Tyrian leaps for him again, still cackling. Qrow kicks Tyrian away almost immediately, and the battle resumes.

After what seems like forever, Tyrian finally stumbles. Robyn fires a crossbow bolt, which he catches in his mouth. Tyrian smirks at her and giggles.

The bolt glows red and Tyrian falters right in time for it to explode.

Robyn stalks over to his fallen form and kicks him in the head, knocking him out. She leans down. “Where’s that smile now?”

Clover turns to Qrow, who’s trying hard to hide his smile. The sight of it makes Clover grin as he turns away. “This is-” He blinks, suddenly aware that he’s about to say Qrow’s name instead. “- _Clover_. Requesting prisoner transport.”

The three fall into an awkward silence until Robyn holds up a hand. “Yay, team?”

Qrow high-fives her somewhat clumsily. “Let’s get to Atlas and toss him in a cell. I don’t particularly want to deal with him longer than necessary.”

“We have Tyrian Callows in custody,” Clover says to the general over his communicators before he lowers his hand. “The transport should be here soon.”

As he says it, he sees the white dot moving in the sky apart from the evacuation transports. Within a few minutes, it lands in front of them. The pilot opens the doors and helps them toss Tyrian into the airship.

The airship rises into the sky and starts making its way back to Atlas as Clover, Qrow and Robyn sit down next to each other. Qrow doesn’t stop glaring at Tyrian until the airship gives a lurch and he’s forced to tear his gaze away.

“That was easy,” Robyn says smugly, leaning back as much as she can in her seat. “He barely put up a fight.”

“It was three against one, Robyn,” Clover reminds her. “Not exactly a fair fight.”

“He’s a witch,” Qrow shrugs. “And you’ve learned firsthand that a witch can take out an entire team of five.” He smirks at Clover as Robyn frowns in confusion.

Robyn doesn’t get the chance to ask as Ruby’s voice fills the ship, blasting over Qrow’s scroll. “Ironwood’s declaring Martial Law and abandoning Mantle! Salem is coming, and he’s going to use the staff to move Atlas. If we don’t stop him, then Mantle’s going to be des--”

The scroll beeps and goes silent. Clover stares at Qrow and Robyn, who turn to glare at him. “Declaring martial law?” Robyn repeats. “We can’t let him do this.”

“Of course we can’t,” Clover agrees. “The evacuations in Mantle aren’t even close to finished. If he gets his way, everyone down here dies.”

The tension in the room fades, but it returns in full force as Clover pulls out his scroll to read a new message. The three of them stare down at the pictures of Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and Qrow.

WANTED  
DETAIN ON SIGHT

Qrow’s picture starts moving until the mugshot is glaring at him accusingly, mirroring the look on the real Qrow’s face. Clover sighs and stands up.

“A free ride and a show!” Tyrian cheers. The three of them groan when they realize he’s awake.

“Why would he order your arrest?” Clover murmurs.

“He wanted to make sure you were all taken care of, I’m sure,” Robyn snarls. She must see the conflict on his face, because she stands up and points her crossbow at him. “I’m not letting you arrest him.”

Clover slowly draws his fishing rod, his gaze never leaving Robyn. The last time they actually fought each other was in training when they still attended Atlas, but her combat style won’t have changed much. Right?

“Cut it out, both of you,” Qrow says. “We’re almost to Atlas- we can talk to Ironwood personally.”

The three of them are so distracted that they don’t notice Tyrian burning through his bonds. Robyn starts to lower her crossbow-

Tyrian leaps for the pilot, his tail jabbing into his neck. The pilot slumps forward as Tyrian leaps onto the controls.

“What are you doing?” Qrow growls, pulling out his sword.

“The will of our goddess!”

Clover realizes what he’s about to do too late. All he has time to do is flick his clover pin, open the airship doors for Qrow and Robyn, and jump out himself.

The airship hits the snow with a loud crash, ripping apart as it tumbles across the ground. Clover slams into the ground hard and hisses in pain.

When the swirling smoke clears somewhat, Qrow levitates out of the ship, trying to wave the snow and dust out of his face. He stops when he sees Clover and changes course, landing softly in front of him.

“Qrow, just come quietly,” Clover pleads. “I don’t want to fight you. Like you said, we can talk to Ironwood.”

Qrow still looks skeptical, so Clover says, “We don’t have to fight, _friend_.”

“You don’t know my friends,” Qrow sighs. “Oz. Raven. _You_. It tends to end up like this.”

Neither of them moves. “It doesn’t have to,” Clover finally says.

He’s sure that Qrow isn’t going to fight him. The witch slowly relaxes, moving to collapse Harbinger.

“Oh, come on! We were just getting to the good part!”

Clover spins to look at the airship as Tyrian’s tail plunges down towards him. He barely blocks it with Kingfisher and knocks Tyrian away.

Skidding through the snow, Tyrian comes to a stop next to Qrow, who slashes down at him. The scorpion Faunus flips backwards, avoiding the blade. 

“We have a score to settle,” Qrow snaps as he swings again, Harbinger swirling into scythe form.

“Oh, I agree,” Tyrian cackles as he dodges again. “So why don’t we put the kid to bed and then finish it?”

_I’m the same age as Qrow,_ Clover thinks before he realizes the gravity of the situation. 

Qrow stops to consider, and Tyrian lets him. His red gaze flicks from Clover to Tyrian and back to Clover. “I’m not teaming up with you,” he says at last. “I never will.”

“Are you so sure?” Tyrian asks. He raises a hand and sends lightning streaking towards Qrow.

The witch throws his hands up and counters the blast with one of his own made out of pure darkness. Tyrian rolls to the side and stares at it as it melts the snow where he was just standing, a delighted smile coming to his face. “It seems _never_ has come early!”

“What do you-” Qrow stiffens mid-sentence. Slowly, he turns towards Clover and points his scythe. A newer, more hostile gleam lights his eyes.

“Qrow?” Clover asks tentatively, his hand twitching towards Kingfisher. The two witches take a step forward. Clover steps back. “Qrow, please. We’re friends.”

“We were never friends,” Qrow snarls, and attacks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> qrow's just salty that clover didn't call him his boyfriend


	12. Tyrian is Blatantly Homophobic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> look I warned you and I was not at all subtle so...  
> tw for the end of this chapter and the beginning of chapter 13, so once you see the first break in 13, that's when it ends

Kingfisher extends just in time to block Qrow’s first strike as Clover staggers back. Tyrian’s weapons snap out and he streaks towards them, his braid whipping behind him.

Clover kicks Qrow away as fast as he can and leaps straight over Tyrian’s head to hit him in the back with Kingfisher. Tyrian bends over backwards and starts firing, forcing Clover to deflect the bullets as Qrow returns.

Spinning away from the bullets so that Tyrian can’t fire at him without hitting Qrow, Clover starts blocking his furious attacks. Qrow twirls his scythe with such ease that Clover starts backing away as fast as possible, now far away from the ship.

The sound of cackling is the only thing that alerts Clover to Tyrian’s presence. Clover jumps back from Qrow and uses Kingfisher to grapple his way to the wreck of the airship. When he gets there, he remembers Robyn, whose unconscious form is still in the ship. Guilt fills him for luring the witches over for just a second.

Darkness swirls over the ruined roof of the airship, materializing as Qrow and Tyrian as they fire their weapons down at him. Clover deflects the first spray of bullets away from Robyn and darts away from the airship, hoping with all his heart that the two witches leave his former teammate alone.

Qrow appears right in front of him, forcing Clover to skid to a stop and raise Kingfisher before he runs straight into Qrow’s blade. “ _Qrow,_ ” Clover pleads as he waits for Tyrian to show up.

For a second, Qrow hesitates, and that’s all Clover really needs. He turns to deal with Tyrian, who pounces the second he sees him.

Clover pulls out one of his many spare horseshoes and kicks it in the general direction of Tyrian’s face. It almost veers away, but at the last second, it hits Tyrian’s tail backward instead.

...Lucky him.

Something huge and heavy hits Clover in the back, and he collapses into the snow. He turns to see Qrow holding Harbinger above him, no more consideration in his eyes.

Clover sees the flames out of the corner of his eye and scrambles to the side as fire smashes into the place where his head once was. He stands up as fast as possible while Qrow and Tyrian each raise a hand, their palms next to each other.

A dark blast slams into Clover and knocks him back to the wreckage. Half of it hits the ground and starts sizzling.

He doesn’t have the time to think about what that could mean as Qrow leaps for him, eyes glowing. Clover takes one look into them and sees a flash of swirling madness before it’s gone again in the blink of an eye.

The distraction is all that it takes for Qrow to hit him into the still-remaining airship wall. Clover slides to the ground, gasping, as Tyrian zips over to stand next to Qrow.

“I’m afraid you’re just a bit too outclassed,” Tyrian taunts, pointing his weapon’s gun at Clover. “Your entire team can’t even take down a single witch, after all.”

Clover searches for a snarky reply, but comes up with nothing. His aura isn’t too near broken, but Tyrian and Qrow are surely far better off. I guess this is it. His hand finds his clover pin, which he flicks as fast as possible as he amplifies his luck.

That’s when he sees it. Robyn leaps up with her weapon extended in a blur of speed and slashes Qrow and Tyrian across the backs of their necks. The two whirl, giving Clover time to kick Tyrian through what might have been a window and knock Qrow aside with Kingfisher.

“What’s going on?” Robyn shouts to him. “I thought Qrow wanted to talk to Ironwood!”

“So did I,” Clover responds. “But the plan has clearly changed. Can I trust you?”

There must be a lot of desperation in his voice, because Robyn’s gaze softens as she turns to him. “Of course. Team CHRY is long gone, but…”

“That doesn’t mean we’re allowed to sit on the beach and sip our wine while the others die,” Clover finishes dryly, remembering what Harriet said almost twenty years ago. “Why do you still remember that?”

“Because it’s-” Robyn reacts faster than he does and punches Tyrian in the face. She doesn’t finish her sentence, opting to say, “Let’s get out of the airship.”

Clover follows her into the open, watching as Qrow and Tyrian stand up. They step out of the airship as Tyrian sighs, “I didn’t _really_ want to have to kill Robyn too. It’s such a waste, isn’t it, Qrow?”

“Not really,” Qrow shrugs, and Clover shudders. He’s never heard Qrow’s voice sound so cold.

A growl ripples through the air, and the four Huntsmen turn. A Beowolf leaps from the wreckage, having seemingly come from nowhere. It lands next to Qrow and Tyrian and waits.

Clover’s gaze travels past it for a second to see the spot where the two witches’ blast hit the snow, which has now become a dark pool. His gaze slides back up to Qrow, who turns to the Beowolf and orders, “Summon your packmates.”

The Beowolf swipes a paw through the snow and lets out another growl. When it doesn’t move, Tyrian snaps, “You heard him. Summon them!” 

Tyrian’s words spur the Beowolf into action, and it turns and howls at the dark pool. The liquid rises into the air and splits into five distinct shapes- more Grimm.

“We’re dead, aren’t we?” Robyn whispers. 

“You know, I always thought Team CHRY would die together,” Clover responds. “But I guess it’s just us.”

“We weren’t partners for nothing,” Robyn says. Her eyes meet Clover’s as the witches prepare to attack. “One last team attack?”

Clover nods. “Ready?” He holds Kingfisher’s hook out to her.

“Ready.”

Qrow and Tyrian charge, the six Beowolves thundering after them. Clover glances to Robyn and swings Kingfisher, carrying her through the air along with it. She swoops directly over Qrow and Tyrian and slices through the Beowolves in one smooth arc. 

Tyrian lunges first, but Clover barely blocks it with Kingfisher. When the scorpion Faunus starts firing, Clover has to knock him away and pray that Robyn hasn’t flung somewhere. Harbinger slams down on Kingfisher as Qrow and Clover push against each other.

“Why would you still side with him?” Qrow snarls. “He’s insane!”

“I could ask you the same thing!” Clover shouts, twisting away. Harbinger lands in the snow instead as Robyn drops out of the sky next to him. 

Robyn lands on her feet and aims her crossbow at Tyrian. He moves faster than she can aim, so she’s forced to dodge his stinger and try to punch him in the face. Tyrian catches her by the arm, sweeps her off her feet and throws her to the ground, his weapon slicing across her stomach. 

Shimmers spread across Robyn’s body, a sure sign that her aura has broken. She starts to sit up, but collapses next to the airship. Clover gasps and rushes to her side, turning his back to the two witches.

He spins just in time to block Qrow’s bullets, but Tyrian runs to the side and starts firing from a different angle. Clover grapples to the other side of the airship, praying that Robyn doesn’t get hit.

Two shadows streak in front of him, landing as Qrow and Tyrian. Clover ducks under Tyrian’s fireball, but Qrow kicks him in the stomach and knocks him back against the airship.

Tyrian’s tail raises, but before it plunges down, Clover hooks it with Kingfisher and twists, sending him flying away. Standing up, Clover keeps his eyes on Qrow.

“Qrow,” Clover says as he backs away, holding Kingfisher in front of him defensively. “This isn’t you.”

Qrow just shakes his head, and that’s when Clover notices the yellow gleam in his eyes. He’s seen that many times before- in the eyes of the Grimm.

Taking advantage of Qrow’s hesitation, Clover uses Kingfisher to fling Harbinger twenty feet away into the snow. Qrow hisses in frustration and raises a hand, a ball of darkness starting to form at his fingertips. Clover raises Kingfisher, ready to grapple away or at least try to deflect the attack.

The two stare each other down, neither of them moving as the darkness grows bigger. Clover isn’t sure exactly how long they stand there, neither of them attacking until Qrow fires.

Unfortunately for Clover, the darkness doesn’t come in one big blast. It takes its time swirling around him in small orbs before choosing a place to strike. He deflects about half of them before the others close in, exploding against him with surprising force.

Green ripples pass over Clover’s body. He pales as he stares down at his hand, watching his aura flicker and die. Slowly, he turns to look at Qrow.

Footsteps crunch in the snow behind Clover. He remembers Tyrian too late, whirling around to try to meet him.

Tyrian pushes him back to face Qrow. Clover feels something cold touch his back. Time seems to slow down as his eyes find the spot where he threw Harbinger, now empty. Clover realizes what’s going on too late. He lets out a pained gasp as Harbinger digs into his back.

Clover tries to push Tyrian away, to grapple away, to do anything but stand here and let this happen. It’s too late. The blade breaks skin.

In one swift movement, Tyrian shoves Harbinger fully through Clover’s chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops
> 
> ... on that note, if you like obnoxious magic aus... my school for good and evil au is my apology


	13. Pyrrha Nikos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everyone makes terrible jokes. oh yeah and everyone's fine totally fine

The sound that Harbinger makes coming out of Clover is even worse than the sound it made going in as Tyrian yanks out the blade and tosses it to Qrow. “Wait here,” the Faunus orders, the amusement still in his voice. His gaze turns to the airship zooming towards them. “I have to go before the authorities get here, after all.”

Clover doesn’t look at Tyrian as his hands reach up to the wound in his chest. He presses one hand to it and immediately feels his own blood drench his hand.

He’s never felt so much pain before in his life, not even from the time when a Beowolf tossed him straight into another’s claws. Clover takes a few stumbling steps forward, and then a few more. He looks up at Qrow, hoping to see his eyes return to normal. 

_Maybe it would be better for him if he never sees this_ , Clover thinks. _He doesn’t need to watch me die._ Clover doesn’t want to die, but he knows he doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter. He stares at Qrow as pleadingly as he can, hoping that the Ace Ops will make the right choice. Hoping that by some miracle, he won’t have to die here, bleeding into the snow.

Qrow stares back blankly, slowly looking down at the wound in Clover’s chest. His lips curve upwards into a cold smile. The witch turns to look at Robyn and raises his blood-stained sword.

Clover tries to stand between them, but he can barely breathe as is. He collapses in front of Robyn, still looking at Qrow. “Leave her alone,” he rasps, even though he knows it’s hopeless.

“I don’t think so,” Qrow sneers. He stands over Clover and positions Harbinger over Robyn’s heart. Clover shuts his eyes and waits for the sound of the sword piercing her flesh.

The sound he expects never comes, but Clover hears something heavy hit the snow. His eyes open as Qrow drops to his knees next to him, Harbinger lying a few feet away. “ _Clover,_ ” Qrow gasps, his hands coming up to cover the wound. “Did… did _I_ do that?”

“Technically, no,” Clover hisses through the pain. “Tyrian.”

“I’m sorry.” Qrow’s hands can barely cover the long wound on Clover’s chest, but with or without them, the snow is already stained red with a pool of his blood. “I shouldn’t have gone with you. My Semblance-”

“It’s not your fault, Qrow,” Clover interrupts as firmly as possible. “I should’ve known I’d eventually luck out- _ah_.” He tries to keep his tone light, but when Qrow readjusts his hands, he can’t hold back a pained gasp.

Qrow curses and mutters an apology, but his mind is clearly elsewhere. Clover wants to ask what he’s thinking about, but at the moment, he’s having a hard enough time staying alive. Luckily, his unvoiced question gets answered a second later.

White light erupts from Qrow’s hands and connects with Clover’s wound, sending small shocks of pain through his body. Clover winces at first, but the pain in his chest starts ebbing away. _Healing magic._

Clover turns to grin at Qrow, but the witch has his eyes squeezed shut. As he watches, Qrow hisses. The small noises turn into grunts until Qrow looks worse off than Clover, despite the lack of a wound on him.

He feels the tugging deep down, but it takes him a minute to recognize it. Clover scrambles to hold on, but it’s too late. He gets a final glimpse of the witch’s red eyes (and the pink, purple and blue sky behind him) before his hasty grasp gives way and he falls into the abyss.

\---

Clover wakes up in a void of white. He sits up and looks at his chest, but his uniform is white as ever. His gaze travels down to his hands, which shimmer like a mirage. Finally, he looks up to meet bright green eyes. “Am I dead?”

“It’s not your destiny to die here,” says Pyrrha Nikos, a kind smile on her face. She looks just like she did in life- maybe better, considering the last time Clover saw her, she was a nervous wreck and about to face Penny. “Qrow started healing you just in time.”

“Oh,” Clover says, pausing to think. “Didn’t he say that healing has unfortunate side effects?”

Pyrrha nods solemnly. “Qrow had the choice to use either light or dark magic to heal you. Dark magic would have sapped the life from Robyn and possibly the pilot of your airship if he had died recently enough. When he used light magic, he chose to drain his own life force.”

Clover jolts at the information. “Does that mean he’s going to die?”

“Not necessarily,” Pyrrha replies. “Before I enrolled in Beacon, I used light magic to save a Huntress’s life close to Argus. She had several claw wounds and broken bones- the only thing keeping her alive was her will. The healing drained everything- magic, aura, and life force- but she lived.”

“You’re a witch?”

“I had no idea,” Pyrrha says, shaking her head. Her green eyes turn to look at the white void, her thoughts elsewhere. “My parents didn’t tell me until I left for Beacon.”

Nodding politely, Clover sends a glance down at the rabbit’s foot on his belt. _A Huntress in Argus… several claw wounds and broken bones._ He looks up suddenly, a missing puzzle piece clicking into place. “How long ago was this?”

Pyrrha tilts her head, trying to remember. “Maybe three years ago, in August?”

August. Clover blinks, and the white landscape turns to the cliff he remembers so well. He and Pyrrha turn to watch as four figures shimmer into existence. Clover ends up staring right at an image of himself, although this one is almost two decades younger. He glances around to find Robyn and Harriet glaring at each other… and next to her…

“Ari?” Clover gapes at the girl in her Ace Op uniform- one he hasn’t seen in twenty years. She doesn’t look at him- not exactly. She frowns at the younger Clover, her hands on her swords.

Pyrrha turns to him as she studies the scene. “You know her?”

“She was my teammate,” Clover chokes as the four people slowly start to move. “We were all going to join the Atlas military, but Robyn refused. She wanted to help Mantle. When she left, we didn’t have much of a team anymore, so we turned into the first Ace Ops. But at least we still had the three of us.”

“I’m starting to see where this is going,” Pyrrha begins, but before Clover can continue, the scene bursts to life.

“Ari, what are you doing?” Harriet asks, a dangerous hint in her voice. “We’re not supposed to be talking to Robyn.”

Ari crosses her arms. “I’m not following Ironwood’s orders anymore.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Clover watches the scene he knows all too well as he raises an arm to hold Harriet back. “Harriet, calm down,” his younger self says.

“It means exactly what you think it means,” Ari snaps. “We’ve been the Ace Ops for so little time that this is technically our first mission, and I’ve already seen what kind of people command this military. I want no part of it.”

“Ari, you _know_ the price for desertion,” Young Clover tries, stepping forward.

“I don’t see any warrants for Robyn’s arrest.”

“She left _before_ the military. This is different and you know it. Please just come back with us, and let’s finish our mission. I’m sure Ironwood isn’t as bad as you think.”

“Yeah, and we’re all straight.”

Young Clover sighs, but the tension in the air has lessened. Robyn even cracks a smile. But one person looks angry as ever. Slowly, dramatically, the other three turn to Harriet. Ari opens her mouth-

“This is Harriet,” their friend says into her communicator. “Your suspicions were right. Ari’s trying to leave. Can you send any of the witch specialists?”

Betrayal flashes in Ari’s silver eyes. She starts to pull out her sword, her gaze never leaving Harriet. “You _knew?_ ”

“Of _course_ we knew,” Harriet replies. “You can’t hide magic that easily. Colored contacts don’t hide that kind of thing. Not to mention the pictures were a dead giveaway.”

A loud beep sounds on Harriet and Young Clover’s scrolls. Young Clover pulls his out and finds an old picture of Ari staring back at him. As usual, the picture starts to move.

“You might want to see this, Ari,” Young Clover says cautiously, stepping forward. He holds the scroll out to her.

Ari takes about two seconds to read the top and look at the old picture of herself before she gets to the name written under it. Immediately, she smacks the scroll out of Young Clover’s hands. “That,” she snarls, pointing at it as if it’s cursed, “Is not my name.”

Puzzled, Young Clover picks up his Scroll and reads the entire arrest warrant. He pauses when he gets to her name. “I thought they would have changed this by now.”

“It’s been a year, Clover,” Ari snaps. “An entire _year._ ”

“I know-”

Several things happen at once. Gunfire erupts from the trees, startling the four Huntsmen. At the same time, a huge Nevermore takes to the sky from below the cliff, screeching down at them. From behind the firing soldiers, four dark figures appear.

Clover turns away, unwilling to watch the rest of the scene. Pyrrha doesn’t copy him at first, but when the sounds suddenly cut off, she finally walks back to him. “What happened after that?” She asks as gently as she can.

“I stood there,” Clover says to the ground. “Harriet and I watched the witch specialists fight her and Robyn. They were outnumbered. Robyn and Ari were about to leave, but the Nevermore grabbed her. She tried to make it drop her. It worked, but her aura shattered right before she fell into a Grimm-infested forest. They told us there was no way she survived.”

Pyrrha opens her mouth to reply, but the world lurches and the sympathy in her eyes turns to urgency. “I don’t have much time,” she says as what started as a gentle breeze becomes a strong gust of wind. “Take this.”

She thrusts an envelope into his hands. Clover looks down at it, at the name written in an elegant script. _Jaune._ “Is this just going to appear in my hands? Because if it is, then it’s going to get soaked with blood.”

“Oh.” Pyrrha thinks for a moment before she says, “Then put it in your boot, I guess.”

Clover does as she says. “Is there anything else?” As he finishes, the wind blows harder, threatening to knock him off his feet.

“Um…” Pyrrha pulls out a few index cards that flap dangerously in the wind. “I think I got everything. Wait- you’re meant to balance Qrow. Raven can handle his magic, but for his Semblance, your presence is what’s supposed to cancel it out. Oh, and if Qrow acts a little bit weird-”

The wind howls against the trees as the world around them dissolves back into whiteness. Pyrrha loses her grip on her cards and stumbles in the void. “Ask him yourself,” she says, a little bit apologetically. “Is there anything you want to know?”

Clover doesn’t know what makes him ask, but the first question that comes to mind is the one that he voices. “Does Qrow… does he have anyone he loves?”

Pyrrha smiles knowingly. “Not in the way you’re asking. For you, Qrow’s fair game.”

The red-haired Huntress starts to say something else, but she wheezes a laugh and bursts into a fit of giggles. Pyrrha manages a wave before the wind completely sweeps her away, leaving the faintest bit of sparkling golden dust.

“What the-”

The wind yanks Clover off of his feet. After what seems like an eternity of flying through the air, Clover starts to fall. In a single heartbeat, the white turns to black and Clover feels himself being pulled away again.

\---

Clover’s eyes open slowly to look up at the blurry shapes and colors above him. Slowly, Qrow fades into vision above him. “Qrow?” He murmurs weakly.

“No, it’s Robyn,” someone to his left says. A second later, Qrow’s being shoved to the side. He lands in the snow and barely pushes himself up as Robyn appears above Qrow. “Are you feeling okay?”

“You should probably ask Qrow that,” Clover replies. “After all, I only got impaled.”

Robyn rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry. We only _almost_ died trying to heal you. I’ve gotta say, giving your life force to someone else sucks.”

“I’ll be fine,” Qrow mutters into the snow. “By the way, Cloves, your pain tolerance is terrible.”

Clover doesn’t get the chance to ask how he knows that as Robyn stands up, dusting the snow off of her skirt. “I’ve got to go now. The airship is almost here, and I get the feeling that they’re going to arrest me if I stay.”

“You might want to run,” Qrow says, watching her sprint away through the snow. He struggles to his feet and offers Clover a hand. “What are we going to do?”

A glance at the airship tells him that they don’t have a lot of time to plan. Clover sighs. “With luck, they’ll take a while to land.”

“Luck? With me around?”

“That’s why you have me, isn’t it?” Clover grins. “Would it be overkill if I said lucky you again-”

Qrow lurches forward on still-unsteady feet and wraps his arms around Clover. “I’m glad you’re alive.” The witch shivers as he clings to Clover and doesn’t stop shaking for several seconds.

“Well, I am too,” Clover replies, returning the hug. “But you’re going to get blood on your shirt and we have to figure out a plan before that airship gets here.”

Stepping back, Qrow looks up at the airship and back to Clover. “Arrest me.”

“What?”

“Arrest me and get us back to Atlas. Once we’re there, we’ll go track down the kids.”

A sudden thought strikes Clover. “Were they with the Ace Ops?”

“Hell if I know,” Qrow shrugs. “But if they were, the Ace Ops have probably lost already.”

“What do you mean, _lost?_ ” Clover asks as he pulls out his bola ties. “They’re the best in Atlas.”

“I know,” Qrow says, holding his wrists out to Clover. “But I’ve seen exactly how good they are, and I’m telling you, you’re the only thing that holds them together. Do you remember that time we fought on that street in Mantle?”

“The time when you threw me into a building at the start of a fight and destroyed it and my aura? Pretty hard to forget.”

“In my defense, the demolition crews didn’t have to do any work,” Qrow replies, watching Clover tie his wrists. “Anyway, once you got knocked out, it just became a mess. Harriet and Vine literally started arguing over whether or not one of them should rescue you while Elm and Marrow tried to hit me without Vine holding me down. It was a complete disaster.”

“I’m starting to see your point,” Clover sighs. “Let’s go.”

Qrow glances down at his bloody scythe and the gaping hole in Clover’s shirt where the cloth is more red than white. “How are you going to explain that to them?”

“I’ll make something up,” Clover shrugs. “I’m pretty good with bullshitting my way through situations.”

“If you say so.”

Qrow takes a single step over to him and almost falls face-first into the snow. Clover catches him with one arm just in time. “Are you okay?”

A flicker of pain appears in Qrow’s red eyes for the slightest moment. Clover doesn’t know why, but the sight of it almost makes him stumble. In that single second, he sees soul-wrenching agony that he suspects is only the tip of the iceberg. But before he can say anything, it’s gone even faster than it appeared. “Yeah,” Qrow finally says.

“You’re not going to go all evil again, are you?”

“The healing was enough,” Qrow replies. “My magic’s the lightest it can be.”

“But how did you get free in the first place?”

Qrow shakes his head. “I’m not really sure. I was there, watching myself attack, but then everything got kind of hazy. I heard you ask me to leave Robyn alone, and I just… pushed. For a second, I thought I couldn’t do anything, but someone helped me. I don’t know who it was.”

Clover struggles to reply, but he doesn’t have to for long. The ship lands in front of them. Two soldiers burst out, and although he can’t see their eyes, he can tell that they’re looking between the bloody weapon and the hole in his shirt. He waves them off when they come close. “Don’t ask. Let’s just get him back to Atlas.”

“And here I thought you were going to actually make up an excuse,” Qrow mutters.

Once the pilots have taken their seats and the doors shut behind them, both Qrow and Clover collapse in their seats. Clover leans over to his friend and mutters, “Are you going to tell me about those unfortunate side effects?”

“Are you going to tell me what you saw when you died?”

Clover frowns. “How do you-”

Qrow stands up and jerks towards the window, his eyes widening in horror. Clover wants to ask what it is, but Qrow’s expression gives him a good idea. Finally, Qrow whispers, “ _She’s_ here.”

“She-” Clover breaks off when he looks out the window. Roiling black clouds flash with lightning as they move towards Atlas, too fast to be a normal storm. “I thought she didn’t leave her castle?”

“Yeah, well, things change,” Qrow growls. “Can you get that pilot to go any faster?”

“Can’t you just fly up there?”

“Flying is still magic,” Qrow replies. “And I’m out of that for now. I don’t- never mind, I have an idea. Can you catch up?”

“Yes?”

Qrow grabs Harbinger with his still-tied hands and turns towards the door, which Clover opens after a moment’s hesitation. The pilots don’t even look back from behind the protective glass. Clover opens his mouth to ask him what his plan is- and then Qrow jumps.

A dark blur shoots past him a second later, but this is different. It’s not a witch’s usual form of transportation- this is smaller, and are those feathers? Clover watches a crow flap its wings and zip out of sight before he can even blink.

“...What just happened?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was too excited. I love Ari and you'll see why in... *checks notes* Chapter 16. except kyra, kyra already knows
> 
> ah yes, Team CHRY. unofficially known as Team LGBT.


	14. The End of the Ace Ops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what the title says, honestly

Clover turns a corner and almost runs into the entirety of Team RWBY. He flattens himself on the wall as Yang fires a shot at him, watching the bullet whiz by his ear. A burst of petals appears in front of him and reforms into Ruby, who points the barrel Crescent Rose directly at his forehead.

Her team lines up behind her, guns pointed. Weiss appears last, but doesn’t raise Myrtenaster. “Do you want to try to arrest us too?”

“You’re outnumbered,” Yang reminds him as if he couldn’t already tell. “So I wouldn’t bother.”

Clover raises an eyebrow in response and raises an arm. Team RWBY tenses, so he moves slower and points to his uniform, where the blood has started to dry. “Because I definitely have the aura to try to fight you, don’t I?”

Ruby opens her mouth to respond, but Qrow comes flying into the hallway, his scythe outstretched. “They’re calling for reinforcements. We have to go,” he says the second everyone turns to him. Then his gaze lands on Clover. “You made it.”

“Uncle Qrow?” Ruby turns to him, lowering Crescent Rose a fraction. “What do you mean, he made it?”

“He’s with us,” Qrow replies, waving Team RWBY away. “And he managed to get himself stabbed, so that’s why his uniform is, well, like that.” He points to the stain.

Everyone immediately glances at Harbinger, which is still covered in blood. “And are those two bloodstains in any way related?” Weiss asks after a moment. Qrow hesitates, wincing. 

“...Long story,” Clover says, earning a grateful look from Qrow. “I’ll tell you later when we’re not on the run. Are you heading for the airships? Because they’re down the way you came.”

“Of course they are,” Weiss groans, spinning on her heel and stalking off down the hallway. Her team follows her, Clover and Qrow a little farther behind.

Qrow turns to him a few steps down the hallway. “You know, they beat the Ace Ops.”

“They _what?_ ”

“See, I told you they could beat- what is it?” Qrow stops gloating when he sees Clover’s expression.

“Are they okay?”

“I don’t know. They were already out of the office by the time I got there.”

Clover sends a glance down the hallway he knows leads to Ironwood’s office and then looks back to Qrow. He isn’t sure what to say as he looks back and forth, standing between the two hallways.

Qrow knows what he’s thinking. “You want to go to them.” 

Team RWBY stops running down the hall to look at him. Ruby frowns and Blake’s eyes narrow, but neither of them says a word. Numbly, Clover nods.

“Then go.” Qrow steps back. “We’ll wait for you as long as we can. If we’re not there, just take an airship. We’re all going to the same place anyway.”

Clover nods and takes a second to stare at Qrow before he turns down the hallway to Ironwood’s office and breaks into a run. 

He’d hoped that his team would realize the importance of disobeying orders, just this one time. With a pang of sadness, Clover remembers the old Harriet. The one who would have flipped General Ironwood off and sauntered out the second he suggested something so stupid. Robyn had told him that he was being brainwashed. She was right. But at least he’d realized it before it was too late.

 _Harriet_ … His teammate. His friend of over two decades, no matter how much she liked to deny it. How had they never noticed what had happened to them after long years in the military? Twenty years ago, neither of them would have hesitated. But now…

And what about Vine, Marrow, and Elm? They weren’t really friends, to be fair. They’d never really been able to bond like Clover and Harriet had with Robyn and Ari, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care. Why would _they_ blindly follow Ironwood into the slaughter of hundreds of innocent people? Couldn’t they see that there was no way this could turn out well?

Then there was Ironwood. Once upon a time, Clover had idolized him. But that Ironwood was just a fairy tale, wasn’t he? The real one had been so close to breaking, and now he’d finally tipped just a little over the edge. Clover didn’t even know what had changed his mind about everything.

Clover turns the final corner to find a huge hole blasted in the side of one of the blast doors. Evidently, not even the blast doors could survive the combined efforts of Team RWBY. He climbs through the hole and ends up standing in an office that’s barely recognizable.

Ignoring the destroyed state of the office, Clover steps right through the shattered glass and the tiny puddles of water to make his way over to his friends. They all lie together in the center of the room, bound with their bola ties and out cold.

He doesn’t have the answer. Clover drags one of the surviving chairs so that it’s close to the Ace Ops and sits down in it, waiting. His hands find the rabbit’s foot on his belt as he watches the Ace Ops. It was a gift from Harriet, back when she wasn’t completely exasperated with his luck jokes.

Clover sits in near silence, the only sound coming from the dripping of water (it might have something to do with the ice embedded in the wall) and the occasional crack of the buildings. He forces himself not to think about the threat looming over them all- Salem. He just keeps his gaze on the Ace Ops, waiting for them to wake up.

Harriet comes to first, which is good. She’s the only one he really needs to talk to. Slowly, sluggishly, she looks up. “Clover?” Her eyes travel down to the red stain marring his uniform and the slit over his chest. “Are you a ghost?”

“No.”

“Did you catch Qrow?”

Clover nods, forcing himself to meet her gaze as he asks, “Are we really just going to abandon Mantle like this?”

His friend frowns, a hint of suspicion in her eyes. “Of course,” she replies. “Orders are orders.” Now that Clover thinks about it, the way Harriet says the phrase seems robotic.

“People are going to die, Harriet. And _Salem’s_ on the way.”

Harriet’s eyes widen for a brief second before she shakes her head. “The general knows what he’s doing.” When he doesn’t look convinced, she repeats, “Orders are orders.”

Clover sighs. He doesn’t want to leave her, but she’s clearly not about to change her mind just yet. Reaching down, Clover unlocks the bola tie on her. Harriet grins for a second before she sees the expression on his face and realizes what he’s about to do.

He stands up and walks away without another word. At the last second, he stops at the door and turns back to a stunned Harriet, still sitting in the center of the room. Clover unhooks the rabbit’s foot from his belt and tosses it to her. She catches it with ease and stares down at it for a second before looking up at him.

“Goodbye, Harriet.” He doesn’t have anything else to say as he leaves the office. Harriet says nothing. Clover takes three steps and then starts running again, this time in the direction of the airships. Hopefully, the Ace Ops will realize their mistakes, but he doesn’t have time to sit around and wait for them.

Right now, he has an airship to steal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, we were talking about chapter 13 on the discord server and this happened:  
> https://idiot-with-a-cat-pen.tumblr.com/post/612583223591075840/we-were-talking-about-bewitched-and-then


	15. Qrow Decides to Be a Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> please try nothing qrow does at home

Storm clouds roll ever closer in the distance as a lone airship cuts through the sky, steadily descending towards Atlas. Inside, lightning flashes, turning the clouds a malevolent red.

Qrow listens as Ruby recounts the events that occured in Ironwood’s office, trying not to flinch when Ruby gets to the part about her mother. Her voice breaks and her eyes flare dangerously bright until Weiss puts a hand over hers.

For a while, it’s enough. Ruby nearly manages to get through her eyes acting up until the door of the airship gets yanked off of its hinges and thrown out into the air. A Manticore sticks its head in, a fireball growing in its jaws.

White light slams into it, turning it into stone that quickly crumbles to dust. The stream of brightness flows for a few more seconds while Qrow reaches out to the light with one hand.

Two things happen at once. Ruby gasps and covers her eyes, cutting off the bright beam. Meanwhile, Qrow sits up straighter, the exhaustion in his face lessening. 

“Huh?” Ruby murmurs. She slowly lowers her hands. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

Weiss shakes her head. “Your emotions are running high. It’s only natural that your magic would react.”

Ruby just blinks. “Magic?”

“What else would it be?” Weiss shrugs. “Besides, haven’t you heard the legends? Silver-eyed warriors are supposed to have pure light witch blood.”

Everyone turns to Qrow, who only shrugs. “She’s not wrong.” He leans back in his seat for a second, but then his eyes widen. He kicks the airship door open and disappears from sight.

“What the f-” Yang doesn’t even have time to finish her sentence as her uncle reappears, holding Oscar by the wrist as they climb back into the airship. “Oh. Where’d you find him?”

“Falling from the sky,” Qrow answers as if it’s nothing. He turns to Oscar. “You good?”

Oscar takes a few deep breaths, trying to slow his breathing. Finally, he replies, “Yeah. Just a little shaken.”

Ruby opens her mouth to say something, but she seems to decide against it. Instead, she glances out the window again- just in time to see something emerge from the clouds.

The Whale erupts from the storm with a roar that shakes the entire city, big enough for it to be holding thousands of Grimm. The airship’s passengers stare at it in horror as it moves through the sky as if it were swimming, getting closer and closer to Mantle.

“What is that?” Blake whispers, her ears folding down. Yang reaches out and squeezes her hand. Immediately, some of the tension leeches out of Blake’s shoulders, but the terror on her face remains.

Penny scans it, the fear in everyone’s expressions mirrored in hers. She shakes her head. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Qrow reaches for his scythe. “She’s going to obliterate Mantle with that. We don’t stand a chance.”

The radio flares to life. “I’m kind of inclined to agree with Qrow on that one.”

Everyone turns to the radio. “Clover?” Qrow asks.

“Who else?” They hear the sound of another airship arriving next to them and look out the window to find Clover waving from his airship. “I heard a story about this thing. It’s supposed to have wrecked entire kingdoms.”

Ruby stiffens, but she still hurries over to the radio with everyone else. “Then we have to get the citizens of Mantle to safety.”

Frowning at the tundra surrounding Mantle, Weiss asks, “But how? They’ll freeze to death…” Her gaze falls upon Atlas, still floating in its place. 

“You have the Winter Maiden, if what Winter says is true. Ironwood can’t use the staff to lift Atlas unless we let him. If we evacuate the citizens to Atlas and raise it as fast as we can, they might be safe,” Clover answers.

“Salem’s not going to allow us to evacuate them while she watches,” Qrow says. “There’s going to be Grimm everywhere, on the ground and in the sky.”

“Not to mention Salem herself,” Ren says thoughtfully. “What’s stopping her from joining the battle and killing all of us?”

“That’s exactly what she’ll do,” Qrow growls. “And none of us can stop her.”

Ruby steps forward. “Can we stall her?”

Qrow thinks for a second, eyes darting from side to side as he considers his options. Finally, he looks up, resigned. “I can.”

“Qrow, don’t do it-” Qrow mutes the radio with one finger, cutting off Clover’s voice. He turns to his nieces.

“Uncle Qrow-”

He bursts into darkness without another word. The people on the ship watch in surprise as a blur of black streaks by their window, heading upwards. Towards Salem.

“Where’s he going?” Jaune asks.

“He’s going to distract Salem,” Ruby whispers. “By sacrificing himself.” She hits the unmute button.

Clover starts talking immediately. “I’m going after him.”

Penny leans over to the radio. “There’s a ninety-nine percent chance that Salem will fry you the second you get close,” she tells him matter-of-factly.

“...I’m still going after him.”

Ruby sighs. “They need you on the ground, Clover. You can help us evacuate citizens. But this is a witch’s fight.”

“What do you mean, ‘they-’”

The silver-eyed Huntress turns to Oscar and nods. So many unspoken things go into that one gesture before she grabs his hand and flies out of the still-open door in a shower of red and green petals. When the petals are gone, one of the communicators that they stole from Ironwood’s office is missing.

“Ruby!” Weiss launches herself towards the open door, one hand reaching for Myrtenaster. 

Jaune catches her by the arm and hauls her back. “Don’t,” he says firmly. “We can’t catch up to them.”

Weiss struggles in his grasp, her eyes wide and desperate. “Let go of me! I can’t just let her die!”

“I don’t want to leave her either,” Jaune replies. “But we don’t have a choice. Ruby’s strong and she’s a silver-eyed warrior. If there’s anyone who can face Salem and walk away alive, it’ll be her. We can’t do anything anymore besides our part in saving Mantle.”

Slowly, Weiss calms down, although the heartbreak in her eyes remains. She picks up one of the communicators and puts it in her ear. “Ruby?”

No one else can hear the response, but Blake and Yang each take one of the remaining communicators. Weiss speaks again. “Don’t die. Please don’t die.”

“What she said,” Yang says.

“If your aura breaks, don’t stay and fight,” Blake murmurs. “You’ll have done your part.”

“I know,” Ruby replies, her voice somber. “But this could be it. I’ll die to stall her if it means that you’re all safe.”

“Ruby-” Weiss begins.

Ruby interrupts her. “I’ve gotta go. I love you guys.”

“I love you too,” they all reply. Weiss’s voice is heartbreakingly soft as she stares at the ground, a tear forming in her eye. She looks like there’s something she wants to say as Ruby disconnects.

It takes a while for Yang, Blake and Weiss to look up again, but when they do, determination and the beginnings of grief shine in their eyes. Weiss speaks first. “Let’s go.”

“Right,” Jaune says, standing in front of everyone. “We have two ships to evacuate these people. Weiss and Penny, you’ll fly on the ships to guard them. Yang, Nora, and Ren, guard the evacuation area. Blake and I will try to get people to the evacuation spot, and Clover if that’s okay with him. Does that sound like a plan?”

“It does to me,” Clover says. 

The airships start to land, their doors opening. Jaune nods firmly as he leads the way off the ship. “Then let’s go save Mantle.”

\---

The second Qrow touches down on the Whale’s massive back, he wants to run. The presence he felt before, ancient and infinitely evil, is only fifty feet away from him. Qrow takes two deep breaths, steels himself, and takes a step towards the Mistress of Grimm.

“Uncle Qrow!”

Qrow looks at Salem first to make sure that she hasn’t heard before he spins around to find Ruby and Oscar standing behind him. His eyes widen in horror. “What are you doing here?” He growls, taking a step towards them.

“We’re here to help,” Ruby says, a defiant hint in her silver eyes.

“This is going to be a magical battle. You won’t stand a chance.”

“She’s not immune to my powers, is she?” Ruby asks. She sees the answer in Qrow’s eyes. “Then I _will_ stand a chance.”

Qrow sighs, and then whirls to Oscar. “What about you?”

“Just trust me.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“I mean, technically it is-”

“Fine. Let’s say you _could_ hold your own, even for a second. That doesn’t mean I can let you die up here.”

“And we can’t let _you_ die up here,” Ruby argues. “We can help!”

“No, you can’t!”

Ruby opens her mouth to respond. Someone interrupts her.

“I’m inclined to agree with Qrow.”

The three Huntsmen look up to see Salem turn around, her lips curving into a malicious smile as she stares back at them. Qrow suppresses a shiver, but Ruby and Oscar visibly shake behind him. They all put their hands on their weapons.

“None of you can stand against me.”

Ruby steps forward, Crescent Rose unfolding in her hands. “Not alone. But together, we can stop you.” They all know it’s a bluff, and stopping Salem isn’t why they’re here. But if Salem notices the lie in her words, she doesn’t show it.

Salem only smiles. “Let’s put that to the test, shall we?”

Qrow pulls out Harbinger, spinning it as it unfolds into a scythe. He drives the tip down into the Whale’s skin, and although it doesn’t go far, the massive Grimm shudders. Oscar raises his cane. Ruby points Crescent Rose.

The three of them stand together, clutching their weapons, as Salem advances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, if you've seen my tumblr, there's a double update for bewitched today (and a double update of charmed) and I'll do another double update for both of them on the last day of fair game week (march 22)
> 
> my tumblr has the chapter names up and basically most of the plot outline for the fifth thing that's coming out on march 22... thank you for coming to my ted talk
> 
> (oh, and bewitched has chapter titles now. you should not have let me do this, rhi)


	16. Twenty-Year-Old Tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a battle to be fought in Mantle, and Ari likes to choose inconvenient times to expose Clover.

Clover yanks a Sabyr away from the evacuation area by its tooth, turning Kingfisher so that its harpoon shoots through the Grimm’s throat a second later. It roars and flops to the ground, but Clover doesn’t have time to watch it dissolve as another charges him. He turns and kicks it in the face, flipping over it. Its companion smashes into it, piercing its body with one of its long teeth.

“Nice job, Clover,” Robyn calls as she shoots the other Sabyr with her crossbow. She hits another into the ground, not bothering to watch it die. “Only a million more to go.”

He dispatches the last of the Sabyrs with his harpoon and takes the pause in the attacks to check his scroll. Still active. Apparently, no one’s reported him to the General yet. As an afterthought, he checks the Ace Ops’ auras. Harriet’s is the fullest, but none of them are above half.

Robyn runs over to him when another pack of Sabyrs rounds the corner. “Where’s Qrow?” She asks as they wait for the Grimm to come closer.

“He left to fight Salem,” Clover replies, raising Kingfisher. 

“He _what?_ ” When Clover doesn’t reply, Robyn sighs and starts shooting her way through the first wave of Sabyrs. As she fights, she yells, “He can’t possibly fight her alone!”

“Ruby and Oscar went with him,” Clover replies.

Robyn pauses in her fighting to gape at him. A Sabyr sneaks up on her, but she kicks it back and keeps her eyes on Clover. “And you _let_ them?”

“I was in a different ship,” Clover says, hooking a Sabyr so that Robyn can shoot it. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“Clover, they’re _kids._ ”

“I know, Robyn,” he says helplessly. “Like I said, I didn’t have a choice. I was going to go up to help, but then she told me that I needed to be on the ground and she left!”

While they’re distracted, two Sabyrs pounce at once, jaws open and claws extended. Clover raises an arm as a last-second defense, well aware that his aura still hasn’t recovered from his fight with Qrow and Tyrian.

Twin swords shoot out from Clover’s right, each one impaling a Sabyr. Clover recognizes the swords immediately and spins around.

Ari stands in front of him, twenty years older but still looking as energetic as ever. She waves somewhat sheepishly, her white sleeve swishing from the gesture. “Hi?”

Clover raises an eyebrow. “You know, in the twenty years you were dead, I thought you’d at least drop by to say hi everyone once in a while.”

“You don’t seem very surprised,” Ari notes as she stalks over to where the Sabyr’s corpses are dissolving and yanks out her swords. “Did Robyn tell you after all?”

“Robyn kn- who am I kidding? Of course she knew.”

Ari frowns as she slashes the Sabyr approaching behind her back. “Then how did you figure out I was alive?”

“Pyrrha Nikos told me.”

“I thought she was dead?”

Their gazes fall on each other’s uniforms at the same time. Ari winces. “Yikes. What happened to you?”

“I got stabbed,” Clover shrugs, ignoring Ari’s incredulous look. “And have you seriously not changed your outfit?”

“What? I like this uniform,” Ari replies, spinning to kill another Sabyr. “It’s super comfortable and evidently, super fireproof.”

“Are you telling me it’s the same one you were wearing twenty years ago?”

Ari ignores his question. “Not to mention that your people keep thinking I’m one of them everywhere I go.”

Clover can only sigh. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

“I don’t know... Last time you said that, you ended up talking to that boy from Beacon and didn’t ever come back to the dorm that night.”

Robyn chokes on air, and her next shot nearly misses its target. “He _what?_ ”

Clover can feel his face burn red as he stabs the last of the second Sabyr pack. “That’s out of context and you know it.”

“Is it, though? Is it really?” Still, Ari leaves him alone after that.

Together, the three of them decimate two more packs of Sabyrs before they hear it. It’s a familiar sound- Clover heard something similar at the Fall of Beacon. He takes a moment to recognize it, but when he does, he glances as Robyn and Ari, who seem puzzled.

A herd of Megoliaths round the corner with surprising speed, eyes glinting maliciously as they charge towards the three Huntsmen. Clover looks back at the evacuation area, where the citizens are shrinking away from the huge Grimm in panic. He turns to his old teammates. “Ari?”

“I’ll try,” she responds. She sheathes her swords and shuts her eyes, raising one hand. Flames splutter to life at her fingertips, slowly growing larger as Ari concentrates. Clover looks between her and the Grimm, trying to gauge the distance between them as they close in.

Ten feet away from the Grimm, Ari’s eyes snap open. The fireball in her hands shapes itself into a disc that she throws as hard as she can. It slices through the necks of the first three Megoliaths before it fizzles out. Ari curses and draws her swords again.

The second wave of Megoliaths replace them in an instant, but this time, whatever Robyn and Ari shoot at them barely does anything. One of Ari’s bullets swerves almost impossibly and shoots into one of the Megoliath’s eyes, but the rest keep coming.

There must be twelve Megoliaths stampeding down the block when their Alpha appears at the back, moving only slightly slower. Clover looks to his old teammates. “We can’t kill that, can we?”

“What about the others?” Robyn asks. “Team RWBY? Maybe the Ace Ops?”

“Something tells me they have the same problem,” Clover replies, hearing the sounds of other Megoliaths on the streets that the other Huntsmen are guarding. “Ari, can you-”

“On it.” Ari runs to the citizens and slams her hands down on the asphalt in front of them. A barely visible bubble flickers into existence, spread thin over the large area. Ari squeezes her eyes shut again, gritting her teeth.

Robyn shakes her head. “Ari can’t hold that. One hit and it’s going to collapse.”

“We have a bigger problem,” Clover replies right before the next round of Megoliaths arrive. He and Robyn raise their weapons, painfully aware that they can do nothing.

“I would say that this is it, but the last time we thought we would die, neither of us died,” Robyn says. 

“Then say it anyway for good luck!”

“We already have you!”

The Megoliath in front lowers its head a fraction, its tusk ready to ram into Robyn-

A laser beam slams into the Grimm, sending it to its knees before a blue and white chakram cuts into its neck, turning it into dust. Clover watches in surprise as Huntsman after Huntsman jumps down from the sky.

In a roar of engines, Atlas Academy’s flying lockers arrive, falling one after another into the street with students holding on as tight as they can. Clover looks up and finds the fourth years’ airships in a massive white fleet as more and more of them jump down onto the street.

Clover blinks. He _knows_ some of these students. He’s given them lessons as a substitute teacher. But wouldn’t Ironwood shut the school?

“Kyra, stop posing and help out!” A girl with purple hair runs by him, leaps into the air and spins down onto the neck of a Megoliath with her teammates, her two swords digging into its neck. Within seconds, its massive head is falling to the ground, but she’s already moving to the next one, where two other students are already stabbing it.

Turning, Clover sees one of his students pick up the chakram she threw and transform it into a scythe. She launches herself into the air using her weapon and spins down towards the Alpha Megoliath. The massive Grimm turns its head to meet her, its tusk poised to impale her. At the last second, she sticks out her scythe and uses it to swing around the Grimm’s tusk, landing on its back.

Kyra smirks from the Alpha Megoliath’s back. “I can do both, you know.”

“That’s fair,” the purple-haired Huntress concedes, her double-bladed staff spinning around her shoulders as she slices at another Megoliath. It’s her turn to pose as she separates the staff into two swords and throws one, holding onto the ribbon on its hilt. The sword sinks into the Alpha Megoliath before she uses it to pull herself up onto its back to join Kyra.

“Hypocrite.”

“Whatever.”

The two turn to each other and nod before bringing their weapons down on the Alpha’s neck. It’s not as effective as Clover hopes, but combined with the fire from the airships, the Alpha goes down.

With the herd taken care of, the Huntsmen run over to join him. Clover notices some of them looking at his destroyed uniform, but he can’t be bothered to care when Ari gives a gasp and collapses, her shield fading.

Robyn turns first. “Ari?”

“Give me a second,” Ari mutters, but she’s clearly fine. 

The students of Atlas Academy form a line in front of the civilians, their weapons outstretched. Clover notices some on the end murmuring something to each other. He strains to hear it and barely makes out the words “for Beacon.”

“For Haven,” says someone else, raising his bow. The pain in their eyes as they speak the words says more than they’ve voiced. The students of Beacon and Haven glance at each other, a single message passing between them. They’ve let this happen too many times already, and Atlas won’t be the next to fall.

Clover watches with pride as the students charge at the next group of Grimm that arrive. Some launch themselves into the air to take down the low-flying Teryx Grimm, while others start team attacks. 

The purple-haired girl and Kyra run over to him, followed by a group of students he recognizes as team leaders. “What do you want us to do with our ships?” The girl asks.

“Send them up to Atlas with citizens,” Clover orders. “Keep a Huntsman on each one, preferably one that has a good landing strategy and a way of maneuvering around a moving airship. We’ve got to get them out before Ironwood abandons them.”

“So it’s true,” the girl says. “I never thought he’d actually… you know what, I’m not surprised. Kyra, are you any good at fighting on top of an airship?”

“As if you have to ask,” the Huntress in question scoffs. She raises a hand to her ear. “Hey, guys. We’re helping with evacuation, so get your lazy asses down here.”

Clover sighs, but the airships are clearly being taken care of, so he runs off to join the fight. He uses Kingfisher to pull a Sabyr away from a trapped student before he swings around a streetlight and straight onto the back of a Teryx. A second later, he sends his harpoon through its neck and leaps to the next one.

The airships descend, their doors opening for the people of Mantle. Clover does his best to keep this part of the sky clear as he leaps from Teryx to Teryx, barely catching each one.

He’s so distracted by the arrival of the students that he forgets about the huge threat riding the Whale. For a second, he thinks they can do this, that it’s going to go fine.

But only for a second.

\---

Mantle is utterly destroyed by the time they finish. Clover staggers through the rubble, panting hard, new scratches decorating his arms. _In hindsight, maybe sleeves were a good idea after all._

He watches as the last airship flies the remaining length to Atlas before he confronts the problem on the ground. All around him, buried in the rubble, are bodies.

Clover notices a pile moving and raises the gun he was given by one of the students. He steps cautiously towards it, ready to fire if it’s a Grimm.

Harriet pushes the last piece of rubble off of her and groans, flopping back on the pile of bricks. “Remind me to never, ever, get thrown into a building again.”

“You came?”

“Of course I came,” Harriet replies, struggling to her feet. “Once I got over myself, that is. Marrow’s here somewhere- have you seen him?”

“His aura broke. He took an airship back with the others,” Ari answers for Clover, walking up to her old teammate. She smirks at her, but there’s faint sadness and pain in her expression. “Hey, Harriet.”

“What?” Harriet stammers, stumbling back. “First Clover shows up covered in blood, and now you? Did I die? Or did you not?”

“I’m alive,” Ari says calmly. “It’s okay.” She opens her arms for a hug, and Harriet collapses into them.

The moment is short-lived as Robyn barrels down the street, her crossbow’s wings fully extended. “INCOMING!”

Sabyrs thunder after her, gaining quickly. Clover turns to Ari and Harriet. “You remember the team attack?”

Ari grins.“We never did name it, did we?”

“No, we didn’t,” Clover replies as Ari raises a hand and creates a curved wall of ice. 

They move together, the move having been practiced so many times that it’s muscle memory after twenty years. Ari takes off, sliding down the ice ramp towards the Sabyrs. Clover tosses her Kingfisher’s hook as she uses her guns to propel herself forward. He yanks as hard as he can on Kingfisher and swings her around, watching as Ari goes flying over him, swords extended.

She lands in a whirlwind of her twin blades, slashing through Sabyr after Sabyr. Robyn sees her throw a sword into the ground and leaps off of it, firing down at the Grimm below her. Within seconds, all of the Sabyrs dissolve into mist.

Clover slides off part of the ice and jogs over to Ari and Robyn, where Harriet has already arrived. “Yay, team?”

Ari high-fives him. “I can’t believe you made us practice those so many times we still remember them,” she mutters.

“You insisted on it.”

“I did _not._ ”

“You totally did.”

“This is touching and all,” Robyn interrupts, “But we should probably go search for survivors. There’s got to be missing students or people who didn’t get on the airships.”

“Yay,” Ari says with as much sarcasm as possible before trudging off in the direction of the evacuation area. Harriet sighs and follows her.

Robyn throws her hands up in the air as she and Clover walk behind Harriet. “We did it!”

Clover casts a glance up at the Whale still overhead, the Grimm within it still visible. “No, we didn’t. Salem’s still up there, remember?”

As if in response, white light explodes in the sky. Clover feels as if a large weight has been lifted off of his shoulders that he wasn’t aware of before. Salem’s leaving, he thinks to himself, and even though he’s not a witch, he knows it’s true. “...I take that back.”

For such an imposing Grimm, it’s strange to see the Whale deflate and fly in circles like a balloon losing air. Within seconds, it’s gone. Black specks remain, growing larger as the Grimm that were just inside the Whale advance on Atlas. 

“...Well, shit,” Robyn groans. 

“Aura?”

“No.”

“Delightful. Let’s go.”

Together, the four members of Team CHRY check for people in the evacuation area before they drop by Robyn’s hideout (Hidey Hole #7, as she calls it) for extra ammunition. Finally, they line up and raise their weapons against the approaching Grimm.

It’s time to finish the job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just gonna slide Ari's dialogue in there


	17. Caw, Caw, Motherfucker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what the title said, also everyone is a badass

Salem raises a hand, a smile on her face as Grimm arms shoot from nowhere to claw at the three of them. Qrow and Ruby cut them apart while Oscar shields them from the second wave.

They survive the next few rounds of Grimm arms, but after Ruby dodges the next one, Salem seems to notice Oscar’s cane. “Of course,” she hisses, rage flaring in her eyes. “I should have noticed.”

“Yeah, you really should have,” Oscar taunts as he flips over the Grimm arm. He doesn’t completely get the arrogant tone right, but it’s good enough. Salem unleashes a burst of pure darkness that grows as it shoots for Oscar, ready to swallow him whole. At the speed he’s moving, he won’t be able to dodge such a wide beam.

Qrow lands in front of him, stabbing his sword deep into the Whale’s skin so he can raise both of his hands. Ruby turns into a flurry of rose petals that streak for them, ready to deliver them to safety.

Before she makes it there, Qrow’s eyes flash and a beam of white light shoots out from them. Two more follow from his hands that he directs to join the main beam until his and Salem’s are roughly the same size.

It’s not enough. Slowly but surely, the beam of darkness starts to overtake Qrow’s magic. While he pants and tries to push back, Salem seems only mildly irritated by the defense. 

Salem turns with a smirk to Ruby, and Oscar realizes what she’s doing too late. A blast of equal size erupts from Salem’s other hand and smacks Ruby out of the air. The silver-eyed Huntress goes flying over the side of the Whale.

“Ruby!” Oscar shouts, reaching out a hand.

Qrow hears him and his magic flickers out as he turns to Ruby, the darkness hurtling towards them forgotten. His eyes widen, but it’s like he isn’t really looking at her.

The name bursts out of him. “ _Summer!_ ”

Ruby’s gasp is audible even at this distance. She falls over the edge of the Whale as darkness slams into Qrow. Oscar’s green shield expands too late, and both of them go flying.

With a dark laugh, Salem turns away from them. “I _did_ tell y-”

A blur of red and white shoots over the edge and turns towards Salem. As it flies, a blast of light much stronger than Qrow’s spears straight for Salem.

Salem’s eyes widen and she ducks the beam. She throws another dark bolt under it towards Ruby, but it fizzles out before it reaches her.

In a rush of wind, Ruby’s boots lift off of the Whale as she rises into the air, her cape blowing behind her. She blinks, and the light transfers to her hands. She throws the glowing orbs without a second thought, and Salem is forced to hastily conjure a shield.

Oscar and Qrow stand up, gaping. “I didn’t know they could summon wind,” Oscar whispers.

“I didn’t either,” Qrow replies as he runs for Harbinger, still in the Whale’s back. “But whatever makes them cooler. Unless… no, Summer was a human. There’s no way. I guess aesthetic _is_ the reason.”

Oscar sighs as he pulls out his cane and leaps, trying to bring it down on Salem. The witch spins, her hair flying, and kicks Oscar away. A blade made entirely of fire follows him before Salem turns back to Ruby.

A black bubble appears at Ruby’s feet. Before Qrow can shout a warning or even process it, it grows and completely surrounds his niece. The bubble drops to the Whale’s back and slowly starts to sink down. Light flares inside of it, but it doesn’t burst.

“By the way,” Salem says, turning to Qrow. “How did it feel to watch him die?”

“To watch who what?” Qrow responds with fake obliviousness. He rounds his eyes as sarcastically as he can. “Clover? Yeah, he’s fine.”

Surprise flashes across Salem’s face for a second. “I watched him die from your eyes!”

“Should have stuck around for the post-credits scene,” Qrow responds, ducking two blasts of lightning as he nears.

“Did you heal him?”

“Obviously.”

Salem snorts. “You care _that_ much for someone you just met? If I didn’t know better, I’d say you two were-”

“You can stop talking now,” Oscar says from behind her. He draws back his cane and smacks her in the face with it.

Unflinching, Salem grabs him by the throat. Oscar struggles in her hands, half surprised and half struggling to breathe. Her hand crackles with electricity that obliterates his weak aura. She turns to Qrow and throws Oscar’s limp form at him.

Qrow doesn’t have time to catch him himself, and the water that he summons to soften Oscar’s landing doesn’t help much. He can barely look back as he digs his scythe into the bubble holding Ruby.

“Why would you even bother trying to stop me?” Salem asks. “We all know it would be easier to just raise Atlas with Creation.”

Not even bothering to respond, Qrow pushes Harbinger farther in. Just as the bubble is about to sink below the Whale’s skin, it cracks. Light shines through the holes as Ruby rises back up, the glow fading from her eyes.

“Uncle Qrow?” Ruby asks, looking confused. “What happened?”

“You silver-eye beamed her,” Qrow replies, but he doesn’t have time to fully explain as Salem directs another attack towards them.

The attack stops in an instant as Salem pauses. “Unless… you were trying to stall me.”

Qrow curses under his breath and charges with Harbinger at the ready, Ruby following him a second later. A Grimm arm, more powerful than the rest, throws Ruby far back. Qrow doesn’t stop, but continues forward.

Salem frowns, looking bored as she catches Qrow in a web she conjures from nowhere and throws him to the ground. She raises a single hand above her head, four swirling orbs appearing at her fingertips. “If you were trying to stall me, you’ve failed. I’ll make this quick.”

Qrow’s eyes flash with a weak white light, but neither his magic nor Harbinger can get through the net. He stops thrashing to look up at her, no sign of his emotion in his eyes.

“Last words?” Salem asks.

He opens his mouth, his eyes settling on something behind her. Qrow actually _laughs_ , whispers something that may or may not be “caw, caw, motherfucker,” and disappears from sight.

Salem catches a glimpse of a red portal shutting before something sharp pierces her back and emerges through her chest. She growls in pain, her fingers reaching up to pull the sword out.

“I don’t think so,” Raven sneers, and slashes sideways. 

The sound of Salem’s flesh ripping is terrible, but it’s matched by the strange sight of her skin immediately beginning to knit itself together. Raven flips away as fast as she can and lands next to Qrow, holding Omen out.

“Seriously? She asks for last words and you go for ‘caw, caw, motherfucker?’”

“Well, Summer isn’t around to criticize our team attack now,” Qrow shrugs. “How’s your magic?”

“Full charged. And mostly dark.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

Ruby jumps so that she’s standing on Crescent Rose’s blade and fires, sending herself shooting forward. “Less talking, more fighting!”

“Fine!”

Raven and Qrow move together, flying towards Salem as fast as they can. Salem tries to blast them both, but as the first bolt nears Raven, she disappears in a red portal. A heartbeat later, she reappears at Qrow’s side before jumping away from him again.

White light, fire and lightning all streak for Salem at once. Oscar even struggles up to his feet. Salem deflects them with a wave of her hand and retaliates with even more powerful blasts that all hit their targets, too fast to be dodged or deflected.

Raven’s on her feet first as she lunges again, dodging Salem’s attacks. Within seconds, Qrow and Ruby join her, spreading farther apart this time.

Salem chooses to focus on Raven and hits her back again. She doesn’t even wait for her to stand- she just hammers her with bolt after bolt of magic. Qrow raises a hand and creates a shield of light over his sister, but as Salem’s barrage continues, his magic flickers and dies. Raven gets slammed backwards, slowly but surely.

The shuddering of the Whale interrupts Salem’s attack. She stops and looks at the blade Raven has driven down into it to keep her from going flying back, at the long tear in its side.

Ruby comes up behind her, her eyes flaring bright. Salem screams as the light sears into her, stone spreading across her body.

When it’s over, Ruby collapses next to the stone statue. Salem’s body is completely encased, but as the twin witches watch, a wisp of black smoke escapes from her mouth and shoots away into the distance.

Qrow looks down at the destroyed skin on the Whale’s back, shimmers passing over his body. “We might want to get off now.”

Raven nods. “Do you have any magic left?”

“What does it look like?”

She sighs and holds out her hands to Ruby and Oscar. Qrow frowns, looking puzzled, until Raven jerks her head towards the sky.

“Oh,” Qrow mutters, and jumps off the Whale.

A few seconds later, Raven opens a portal and pushes Ruby and Oscar through, jumping through herself a second later. As she leaves, she fires a final bolt of magic at the weak patch of skin.

The portal shuts behind her as the Whale Grimm bursts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> right double update for bewitched is done, now to update charmed


	18. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> look I was going to break his legs for this sole purpose but the guy just got stabbed a few chapters ago so..... I gave him a break

Clover shoots the last Beringel with Ari’s sword and promptly collapses on the pavement. A boot nudges his side almost immediately as Robyn leans down to help him up again.

“We did it,” Ari sighs.

“Even if I’ll never have extra bolts again,” Robyn mutters. She lets go of Clover.

His legs give out the second her hand leaves him, and his hands are the only things that keep him from falling face-first into the rubble. 

“Calling it now, his knees should _not_ look like that,” Ari says, carefully rolling him over. “See? Dislocated.”

“Are you going to help me out or not?” Clover groans. 

Robyn shakes her head. “I’m not exactly the reigning authority on first aid.”

Everyone looks to Ari. “I broke someone’s leg once,” she offers.

“It was mine and I’ll always hate you for that,” Harriet says. “And before you look at me, no. I almost failed Ace Ops training because I suck at this.”

“...Just my luck.”

Ari snorts. “I haven’t heard one of those jokes in twenty years.”

“That’s a good thing,” Harriet tells her. “Should we just call an airship and drag him on it?”

“I can take care of it.”

Team CHRY (with the exception of Clover) spins around to see Qrow walking towards them, supporting Raven. As Raven’s hand shifts, Clover catches a glimpse of blood.

Alarm jolts through Clover as he remembers the two Huntsmen that went with his friend. “Where are Ruby and Oscar?”

His fears dissolve when Qrow points at the sky, where a lone airship is making its way towards them. “A Huntress picked them up. She said they’d wait for us in the school.”

Clover nods. “You said something about taking care of this?” He gestures at his legs.

“Right.” Qrow kneels down next to him and talks Ari through helping him with Clover’s legs. A minute (and two strange pops) later, he helps him stand.

Clover takes an experimental step and wobbles forward, nearly pitching forward again. The only thing that stops him from getting another palmful or debris is Qrow, who catches his arm and hauls him up.

“This seems familiar,” Qrow comments, and Clover knows he’s thinking about the time he slipped in the mine. His expression turns serious. “Can you walk?”

“My pain tolerance is terrible, remember? I’m thinking no,” Clover admits. “I could try swinging off the street lights. If they’re still standing.”

“With me around? Cloves, that’s just stupid.” On cue, the snow starts again, cold wind making even Clover shiver. Qrow glances up and sighs. “We need to get out of here before we freeze. Can you get the airship to land here?”

Harriet shakes her head. “The streets are too narrow here for the airships. We’ll have to be on one of the main streets.”

“Would it be bad if we all just dragged him?” Raven asks.

“Maybe,” says Ari.

“Probably,” says Robyn.

“Definitely,” says Qrow. He looks up at the airship still trying to figure out where to land. “Right. We’re just going to do it like this.”

“Do it like wha-” Clover breaks off in the middle of his sentence when his friend leans down, puts one arm under his back and one under his leg, and picks him up with no sign of effort.

Ari’s jaw drops. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I’ll take that to mean that you’ve never held Harbinger,” Qrow shrugs. He starts walking off towards the main streets.

“Show-off,” Raven mutters, following him after a brief pause.

Clover isn’t sure what to do. How much can he relax in Qrow’s arms? Why is his face so close to his? Why- he catches sight of his former teammates walking behind him, all three of them whispering conspiratorially. He shoots them a half-hearted glare.

Ari is the first to notice. She starts snapping her fingers, a little heart-shaped spark flying from her palm each time she does. Clover groans as she finishes by clapping her hands together and separating them, revealing two words spelled out in rainbow sparks: _GAY PANIC._

“Screw you, Ari,” he mutters.

“Get in line.”

Clover rolls his eyes and turns away from her, but that means he doesn’t have anything to distract himself from Qrow’s close proximity. _For the love of the gods, this is not the time to be gay,_ he tries telling himself. It doesn’t work. If he just shifts his head a little bit, he can rest it on Qrow’s shoulder.

He notices Raven next, who, despite the hand over her wound, is definitely glaring at him. Clover looks away as fast as possible.

The witch rolls her eyes and leans over to her brother, whispering something into his ear. Whatever it is, Qrow doesn’t seem to like it. He turns and hisses something back, but Raven only laughs.

Finally, they make it to the airship, and Qrow puts Clover down in a seat before dropping next to him. Raven collapses next to her brother, a hand still over her stomach. She and Qrow move away from each other the second she sits, the look in their eyes telling Clover that they haven’t made up yet.

The airship takes off with a roar as Clover glances towards Atlas. They have a while to go before they get there.

After a short time of silence, Clover turns to Qrow. “How’d you defeat Salem and the Whale?”

“Ruby,” Qrow replies. His sister elbows him, and he sighs. “Raven was also helpful.”

“I saved your life,” Raven mutters.

“And Ruby saved yours.”

“I popped the Grimm.”

Qrow sighs. “Yeah, you did.” He looks back to Clover. “Long story short, Ruby caught Salem by surprise and turned her to stone, and Raven blew up the Whale.”

Clover blinks. “How did Ruby do that, and how did Raven even get here?”

“My Semblance,” Raven says, offering no further explanation. Her eyes light with recognition as she continues to stare at Clover. She turns to look at Harriet and looks back to Clover. “You’re the Ace Ops!”

“Oh, no,” Harriet sighs, glancing at Clover.

Ari waves her hands in the air, cutting off Raven, who looks ready to expose them. “I’m sorry, but how does everyone know each other? I don’t remember meeting you at all.”

“Team STRQ, second year,” Robyn tells her. “Vytal Festival.”

“Oh.”

Right after she says it, a black blur whizzes by the window, highlighted by the white of its mask. The occupants of the airship watch it fly towards Atlas only to be shot out of the sky.

“There’s more?” Raven groans.

“Atlas is full of people,” Robyn realizes. “That’s a lot of negative emotion.”

“The fleet will be able to handle the Grimm,” Clover says. “They’ve done it before.”

They sit in silence for the rest of the ride as the airship lands in Atlas. Raven gets out first, supported slightly by her brother. The last to leave is Robyn, closing the doors behind her so that the ship can rejoin the fleet.

The first thing Clover sees when he steps out is the huge gathering of students outside of the academy, many of them still in their school uniforms. In the very front, Ruby Rose stands in the middle of a group with guns as they fire at the Grimm that the ships miss. Other students run around carrying stacks of pillows, and even more guide scared people into the school.

In the back of the crowd, Clover catches sight of Elm and Vine, arms crossed as they frown at the many people flooding into the school. Vine catches sight of him and turns away. He nudges Elm, and she glances at him before dropping her gaze.

“Clover!” Marrow appears out of the crowd, a few shallow grazes decorating his face. “You made it!” Marrow tries to hug him and stops when he sees the blood on Clover’s chest. 

“Long story,” Clover blurts before Marrow can ask, feeling Qrow shift uncomfortably next to him. “I’m fine. What’s going on here?”

Marrow points towards Ruby. “She came back with the last of the students and started organizing them into, well, this. We’re trying to fit a lot of the refugees in here, and once it’s full… well, Ruby suggested breaking into the Schnee Manor.”

“I, for one, am on board with that plan,” Robyn grins. 

Qrow watches his niece shoot down another Grimm before he says, “If you have everything under control, we should probably find Ironwood.”

“Oh, no,” Marrow mutters. “Do you at least have any aura left?”

Clover frowns. “Why would we need aura to talk to Ironwood?”

“Well… he may or may not have shot Oscar off of Atlas?”

Qrow blinks. “He _what?_ ”

Marrow takes a step back. “Your eyes don’t normally glow red, do they?”

Taking a breath, Qrow relaxes. He turns to Clover. “How do you feel about punching your boss in the face?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh I have no memory of writing this chapter and I don't want to face it so whatever happened in this chapter... oops
> 
> also, I finally got around to capitalizing the title xD


	19. Ironwood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> also known as "No One Likes Ironwood, and I Can't Blame Them"
> 
> penny took over this chapter on her own but that's not a bad thing so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

The vault is eerily silent save for the whir of the elevator as it descends. Qrow, Oscar and Clover stay standing on it, but Penny flies on ahead, landing in front of Ironwood, whose back is to the rest of them.

“Penny?” Ironwood asks in surprise. “Where’s Winter?” There’s something off about his voice. It sounds so flat and so angry at the same time, far from the tone that Clover’s used to.

“Winter was injured fighting off Cinder Fall,” Penny answers. “Her wounds are relatively minor, but she still needs time to recover.”

Ironwood nods solemnly, looking up towards the golden door high above. “So Cinder Fall… does she have the Maiden powers?” He doesn’t even bother to disguise the panic in his voice.

Penny glances past him to Clover, Qrow and Oscar so quickly that Clover barely notices before she looks back and shakes her head. “No, she doesn’t.”

“Then who…” Ironwood trails off when he sees Penny’s eyes light with a soft green fire. He stands straighter immediately, his shoulders no longer slumped. “This is- well, it’s not what I expected, but it works just fine. Once you open the vault, we can raise Atlas and… Penny?”

The once-flickering fire in Penny’s eyes flares brighter, the tips of the flames extending past her ears as she frowns, her face conflicted. Finally, she shakes her head and shuts her eyes for a few seconds. When her eyes open again, the signs of her Maiden magic are nowhere in sight. “General Ironwood,” she says softly, as if trying to reason with a wild animal. “Is this really the best idea?”

General Ironwood snorts, but it sounds more like a growl. “Oh, not you too.”

“What?”

“Oscar came down here. He tried to convince me to stop, just like you. I made him leave.”

Next to Clover, Qrow takes a step forward, reaching for Harbinger. Oscar had explained the story to all of them on the way down, including Penny, and it’s clear that that’s what Ironwood’s referring to.

Penny crosses her arms and shifts her weight so that most of it is on one leg. When she raises her eyebrow, Clover grins. Her stance and unimpressed frown remind him of Yang. “By shooting him off of Atlas?”

Ironwood freezes. “How do you know that?”

Oscar hesitates before stepping away from where he’s been hiding behind Qrow and Clover, clearing his throat. The general spins immediately, reaching for his gun. “Hi?” Oscar says, jerking his hand in what might be a wave.

“I- you- how are you alive?”

Oscar looks at Qrow. Qrow looks at Oscar. “Magic,” Oscar says eventually.

Not even listening to his answer, Ironwood directs his attention to Clover. “What took you so long to arrest him?”

“I didn’t arrest him.” Clover replies.

Qrow coughs. “Technically…”

“ _Technically_ , I did, but that didn’t exactly last. We had bigger problems, after all.”

“Salem,” Ironwood says. He casts a nervous glance towards the vault, his hand drifting farther towards his gun. The general finally sees the stain on Clover’s chest and frowns. To his surprise, Ironwood doesn’t ask. Instead, he looks to Qrow, whose hand is on Harbinger’s hilt. He starts to pull the sword out-

A shot whizzes right past Qrow’s ear, and everyone freezes except for Ironwood, who draws his second gun. Qrow steps forward, but Clover shakes his head. None of them are in any shape to fight, especially not if Ironwood’s been down here and away from the fight the entire time.

Oscar steps in front of them both, reaching for his cane. For a second, Clover wonders how much protection Oscar can really offer until he remembers that there’s still no way to fall down to Mantle from the vault unless a hole gets blasted in the bottom. _How did he get out of here in the first place?_

Clover doesn’t draw Kingfisher, but he keeps his eyes on the general. “Sir, please. Raising Atlas isn’t going to help anyone.”

Ironwood outright rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything to Clover. Instead, he turns to Penny. “Penny, open the vault and get to the Relic. I’ll deal with them.” 

Penny glares at him with surprising venom for who she is, still mimicking Yang’s posture. “No.”

“What?”

“I said no.” Penny stalks over to join them, barely acknowledging Ironwood’s angry look. “The Relic isn’t going to save anyone.”

“Get me the Staff. That’s an order.” Ironwood aims Due Process at Qrow and Clover. He waits for Penny to obey him, his eyes widening when she keeps walking.

Penny shakes her head. “You know, they didn’t write all of those stories about robots rebelling for nothing.” She gives him one final glare with just a hint of Maiden fire in her eyes before she brightens and stands up straighter. Just before Clover can tell the general himself, Penny says, “Oh, and by the way, we already defeated Salem. _Without_ raising Atlas and leaving Mantle to die.”

Ironwood freezes, hands shaking ever so slightly as he glances towards his scroll in his pocket. He waits for it to beep and flash red, signaling that Penny’s lying. When no sound comes from the scroll, he looks back up in shock. Due Process sinks an inch in the air. “You… what?”

“We defeated Salem,” Penny repeats. “We saved Mantle _and_ Atlas.”

“No thanks to you,” Qrow adds. 

“Don’t provoke him,” Clover hisses.

“You can’t stop me.”

Clover isn’t sure how long it takes Ironwood to process as they stand in silence, horror mounting in his eyes. Slowly, he starts to lower his gun.

The elevator whirs again, prompting them all to turn towards it. Robyn saunters off of its platform first, followed by May, Joanna, Fiona, and the two council members. 

Robyn smirks, flashing her Huntress license. “Guess who’s under arrest now?”

-

Ironwood doesn’t fight as they leave the vault. At one point, Qrow moves forward, his hand curling into a fist, but he stops before Ironwood can even notice and turns away. 

Marrow and Harriet are assigned the task of bringing him to the cells, which can’t be awkward at all. Clover watches them go, not missing the hateful glares that students and citizens alike shoot him. Clearly, they’ve heard about what he’d tried to do.

Penny doesn’t open the vault. They’ve already lost Knowledge, and they don’t need to give Salem another Relic.

Winter is still recovering by the end of the night. When Clover, Penny and an extremely reluctant Qrow go to visit her, they find her with a stuffed rabbit still holding a get well soon card. The handwriting on it is familiar, but Clover tries not to think about it too much.

By the time they make it back to their rooms, the sound of the many people crammed into Atlas Academy almost keeps them from sleeping. Almost. After you’ve been fighting to save Mantle for so long, it’s nearly impossible not to fall asleep at the earliest opportunity.

Clover doesn’t even try to explain to the Ace Ops (and the Happy Huntresses, who invited themselves in to sleep on the floor) the events of the day. No one asks, mostly because they’re all out the second their heads touch their pillows.

His last thought before darkness overwhelms him is something along the lines of _wait, Qrow’s a bird?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been over 2 weeks and I'm sorry. I have no excuse.
> 
> just kidding I do and it's called animal crossing


	20. Reconciliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is basically aftermath part 2 electric boogaloo but with less drama

Clover wakes up in the morning to the sound of screaming, feeling like he’s forgetting something important. He rolls out of bed- or, at least, he tries to, because he made the brilliant decision twenty years ago to take a top bunk.

Luckily, he manages to grab the side of the bunk bed and swing around so that the only thing he hits is the side of Harriet’s bed. Dropping to the floor and missing Fiona’s head by inches, he reaches for Kingfisher. He stops when he recognizes the shouting as Robyn, Harriet and Ari in another room.

_Oh, no._

There’s no reason for them to be screaming in another team’s room, which means that they must be… Clover stiffens and starts picking his way around the three sleeping Happy Huntresses to get to the kitchen door.

Not long after their disastrous attempt at bringing Qrow and Raven in, the Ace Ops had moved into a shared room- something about them needing to learn to work together. They decided on one with a kitchen missing a microwave, just in case Clover got any ideas about microwaving utensils again.

“Harriet, you can’t cook eggs with my arrows!”

“There was no more room on the stove! What did you want me to do?”

“Anything that _doesn’t_ use the last bolt I have-” Robyn begins, but she cuts off suddenly.

Clover opens the door just in time to see Ari dive behind the table with Robyn as an arrow explodes under Harriet’s frying pan, sending the eggs flying. He watches as the pan soars across the room, still barely comprehending what’s going on.

Jumping up, Harriet streaks after the pan and catches it just in time, the eggs barely landing inside of it. Robyn tosses her a plate like a frisbee that she dumps the eggs on. Clover gets a glance of the eggs, only slightly burned, before Harriet slides it into a line of five identical plates.

Harriet finally pauses to look up at him. “If you’re going to be here for a while, you should probably amplify your Semblance. We could really use it right now.”

Robyn sees his puzzled expression. “The students are helping to feed the refugees, and we thought we’d help. The kitchen was overcrowded, so we decided to use your kitchen. It’s going… worse than we expected. Apparently, none of us are very good at cooking.”

“Not to mention Harriet keeps setting things on fire,” Ari says dryly. 

“And that,” Robyn sighs. “At least we’re out of fire Dust now.”

Clover frowns. “Ari, couldn’t you just start a fire with magic?”

“Not right now,” she says, snapping her fingers to produce only a weak spark. “I don’t have magic nearly as strong as your boyfriend’s, and I used every last bit of it yesterday.”

“Boyfriend?”

Harriet coughs and leans over to Ari. “They’re, uh… they’re not dating. Yet.”

“They’re _not?_ ” Ari throws her hands up in the air. “Seriously? You would’ve thought that you’d act on whatever’s clearly going on by now. And don’t you _dare_ tell me you have more important things to worry about, ‘cause you always say that and you _still_ stared at Qrow for a solid minute.”

“It’s nothing new,” Harriet mutters to her. “He _always_ stares at him. We’ve lost a few fights because of it.”

Ari raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t say anything to Harriet. Instead, she turns to Clover and asks, “It’s been, what, twenty years? That means we’re- actually, you know what? I don’t really want to think about it. My point is, if we’re all this old, isn’t it kind of sad that we’re all single?”

“...No?” 

“Yes, it is. We might be perfectly happy without men in our love lives, but we all know you aren’t. So make your move! Ask him to dinner or something! Even if he says no, if what Harriet says is true, he’ll probably be leaving soon enough, right?”

Clover frowns, “He’s leaving?”

“Well, of course,” Harriet replies. “Weiss said something about losing Knowledge and having to beat Salem’s people to Destruction. They’re afraid of waiting too long to leave.”

Before Clover can reply, a loud hiss comes from the eggs still on the stove. His three teammates spin around, Harriet leaping up to run for the pan before the eggs burn completely.

Robyn sighs as she presses herself against the counter so Harriet can run by to find a plate. “You might want to go. Something tells me that Harriet’s going to find a way to burn the kitchen down, luck or no luck.”

“I can help-”

She waves him off. “I haven’t forgotten the microwave.”

It’s a good thing he leaves when he does, because the second the door closes behind him, he hears Ari squawk, followed by the sound of several things hitting the ground. Clover shakes his head and steps as quietly as he can around the people on the floor. 

He only makes it halfway to the hallway door when the dizziness hits him. Clover stumbles, barely staying on his feet as he leans on the bed.

_Maybe I should sleep for a few more hours,_ Clover thinks, and instantly feels guilty. They have a lot to do, and he doesn’t have time to sleep, even if Marrow, Joanna, Fiona and May clearly disagree. He waits for a few more seconds before he stands up and walks the rest of the way to the door.

The hallway is surprisingly empty as Clover steps out, a few rose petals fluttering out of his way. He hears the voices that can only come from a crowd of people and turns down the hallway toward the cafeteria. 

When he gets there, he’s not surprised to find half of it already packed with Huntsmen, students and refugees alike. Far in the corner, Winter sits with Elm and Vine, and a few tables away from them, Team RWBY and their friends are just sitting down. The tables between them are empty, and by Team RWBY’s glances at Elm and Vine, Clover can tell why. It must be awkward sitting near people you fought a day ago.

Winter notices him looking at them first, but she drops her gaze quickly. Vine sees her look up and turns, prompting Elm to look with him. Clover hesitates, not sure if he should go over, but Winter calls his name before he makes up his mind.

“Did you sleep well?” She asks once he sits down. 

“I wouldn’t mind a few more hours,” he admits. “But there’s work to do.”

Winter raises her eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re in the right condition to work after you were sleeping for less than four hours?”

“Hey, I slept like that all the way through the last year at Atlas, I’m sure I can do it again.”

“You weren’t recovering from a stab wound, were you?”

“I… no,” Clover sighs. 

“Unless you secretly weren’t stabbed, which I highly doubt since everyone who saw you yesterday is under the impression that you had a bloody hole in your shirt, you should sleep.” Winter meets his eyes and stares at him in silence, waiting for him to give in. When he doesn’t, she eventually sighs. “Qrow and Team RWBY are going to help the Atlesians who offered their buildings as shelters to set up beds. You can see if they’ll let you help, seeing as there’s a good chance you’ll hit a pillow if you collapse.”

“All right.” Clover starts to stand up, but sits down again. “Before I do that, how was yesterday for you?”

Winter frowns, glancing off to the side. “I was sent to claim the Winter Maiden’s power, but Cinder Fall arrived before I could finish my mission. To say I was sloppy when I fought her is an understatement. She almost killed me before Penny, Weiss and Ruby stopped her. Penny left with them, and I was taken to the infirmary, where I stayed until this morning.”

“Elm and I were also… incapacitated for most of the fight,” Vine says with only the slightest hint of embarrassment. “Team RWBY knocked us out, and Harriet did the same when we came to and told her we would still follow the general’s orders. After that, we were sent to keep the students under control, and, well… It didn’t go as smoothly as we’d hoped.”

Before Clover can ask what he means, Winter reaches for her cup and explains, “The students didn’t take the news that they had been ordered to leave Mantle alone very well. Vine and Elm were forced to try to block the doors, and someone shot a fireball at them.”

“A fireball?” Clover asks. “There are witches here?”

Winter shrugs. “We don’t have a way to detect them, so it makes sense that there would be some here. Either way, while the students had some misgivings at first, they decided saving Mantle was more important.”

“Is this where you tell us that you all had the _life-altering_ realization that following orders isn’t always a good thing?” Everyone turns to find Harriet leaning over, a bowl in her hands.

“I thought you were cooking,” Clover says.

“We ran out of eggs and almost set the room on fire, so we decided to look for some cereal.” Harriet sits down across from him next to Winter. “Speaking of cereal, why are there six boxes of Lucky Charms in our kitchen?”

“Marrow,” says Elm.

“Marrow,” says Vine.

“They’re not the worst,” says Clover.

Harriet blinks. “I can’t say I’m surprised.” She turns to Elm and Vine. “Are you going to answer my question?”

“It took a while,” Elm shrugs. 

“But we did eventually come to that conclusion, yes,” Vine finishes.

“Great!” Harriet grins. “...Winter?”

Winter gives her a short nod in response before her eyes fall on something past her. “Clover, if you want to go with Qrow, they seem to be leaving now.”

He follows her gaze to Team RWBY’s table, where all of them are standing up. With a quick thank-you to Winter, Clover hurries over and manages to catch them before they make it out the door.

Qrow notices him first. “Hey, Cloves. Do you need something?”

“Winter said you’d be helping set up beds. Mind if I come along?”

Qrow frowns, and Clover knows what he’s going to say before he says it. “You should rest.”

“I’m _fine,_ ” Clover protests, almost before Qrow finishes speaking. “Besides, you healed me, so if anything, it’s _you_ who should be resting.”

“What? I’m not the one who got _stabbed-_ ”

“And I’m not the one who drained his life force to heal me.”

Qrow’s eyes widen slightly as he looks at Team RWBY from the corner of his eye. Ruby and Yang’s eyes narrow, and they both take a step forward. Weiss and Blake copy them, and by the time Qrow turns fully to face them, they’re all standing in a line.

“What’s this about draining your life force?” Weiss asks, a hand on her hip.

“Seriously, I’m fine-”

“Uncle Qrow, you should really rest,” Ruby says before he can finish. “You were fighting all day. You even fought Salem!”

“You fought her with me.”

“I didn’t drain my life force beforehand, did I?” Ruby sighs. “Please, Uncle Qrow.” 

Ruby stares at Qrow, and he stares back with a slowly weakening resolve. Finally, Qrow drops his gaze. “Fine. But I’m going to come to help in a few hours.”

Ruby looks at Weiss. Weiss looks at Ruby and says, “Qrow, if you even _think_ about leaving your room before-” she checks the time on her Scroll- “three, we’ll lock you in there.”

“With Clover,” Blake adds. “He’ll make sure you actually take a break and don’t just fly out the window.” She meets Clover’s eyes and winks.

Before Clover can figure out how he should even respond to that, Yang spins Qrow around and pushes him slightly back towards his room. “You need to rest and you know it.”

“You both do,” Weiss says.

Clover blinks. “But I-”

“No,” she snaps, a sort of finality in her voice. “We’ll see you later.”

“Fine,” Clover sighs. “I can’t convince you to take a break too, can I?”

“Don’t bother,” Yang snorts. 

Shaking his head, Clover turns and starts to leave. He glances over his shoulder before Team RWBY can start walking again. “Make sure you take it easy too.”

“We will,” Ruby replies, gesturing for her team to leave the cafeteria. She waves goodbye as they walk off.

Clover turns to Qrow, opening his mouth to speak. He doesn’t get the chance to say anything before Raven brushes past him, pauses, and turns around. She glances between him and Qrow, gives him a knife-sharp glare, and keeps walking. He hears her shout Yang’s name as she continues down the hallway.

“See you later,” Qrow says, starting to head back to the hallway across the cafeteria.

“Wait,” Clover calls after him. Qrow turns, looking at him expectantly. “How can you turn into a bird? Is that another witch thing, or…?”

Qrow snorts. “Nah, it’s from Ozpin. He gave us the power to shift so we could be his spies.”

Clover nods, and they fall into silence for the rest of the way back to their rooms. Qrow waves as he slips into his own room, and Clover continues down the hall. He opens the door to his room to find Robyn and Ari just leaving the kitchen.

“Back so soon?” Ari asks. “I thought I heard you leave.”

“Team RWBY convinced me to go back to bed,” Clover replies. 

“Good.” She starts to leave, but then looks back. “Did you see your b- Qrow?”

“Yeah.”

“So are you going to do anything or…”

“I don’t know,” he admits. “If he’s leaving, maybe I really shouldn’t try to start something.”

Robyn thinks for a second before suggesting, “Or you could go with him.”

“But what about Atlas and Mantle? Besides, I lead a Huntsman team, and I can’t just leave them-”

“The Happy Huntresses are on the same side as the Ace Ops now,” Robyn reminds him. “And I doubt the students of Atlas Academy are just going to train all day. No one’s going to blame you if you want to leave.”

“Just think about it,” Ari says before he can respond. “You’ve been fighting for Atlas for a long time. You’re allowed to be a little selfish.”

“And you’re not even being selfish if you leave. Team RWBY and their friends are trying to save the world, and I think Qrow would appreciate the help.”

Clover sighs, nodding. “All right. I’ll think about it.”

As Ari and Robyn leave, he climbs back into his bunk and shuts his eyes, hoping that it won’t take too long for him to fall asleep. Still, his mind is wide awake by now, and it’s definitely not helping him drift off.

Robyn’s words echo in his mind as he tries to relax. _Or you could go with him._

_Maybe I will._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahahahahaha I'm alive fuck writer's block
> 
> we will... we will ignore the last updated on April 12 thing.


End file.
